Gary Nairn (Eden-Monaro, Liberal Party, Special Minister of State) Share this | Hansard source

No, we have not. We have not heard anything said about it. But somewhere else in all of these focus groups something must have been said about, ‘We might win a few brownie points with local government. Here’s a bill; let’s whack in an amend-ment that refers to a referendum on constitutional recognition for local government.’ It is an absolute joke. If Labor were serious about this they would have brought forward a decent policy and they would have brought forward a private member’s bill. There are all sorts of ways in which they could have brought this forward over the past 11½ years. But no, they sneak it in as an amendment to the second reading of a bill that they claim to support. You have got to look a little bit different, so you whack this in as an amendment.

The second part of the opposition’s amendment is ‘to allow communities to express a view on the location of 25 nuclear power plants’—I do not know who and what has decided that there is or will ever be 25 nuclear power plants but all of a sudden they invent 25 nuclear power plants—‘and the nuclear waste facilities that the government wants to impose on the Australian people’. What an insult to the parliament this is because, if that is what you had wanted to do, there is absolutely no need to make any amendment. If at some time in the future somebody decides that there has to be that number of nuclear power plants in Australia and you want to have plebiscites, you can do it under the existing legislation. So it is one of two things: either the member for Fraser, who brought this amendment forward, is totally ignorant of the Electoral Act or it is just a stunt. People can decide which it is.

I would have thought that the member for Fraser would know something about the Electoral Act. In a former life he was a party official, like so many others on the other side. From the role of party official he came into the Senate and then into the House—the usual Labor Party operation. Because of his role in those days as a party official you would think that he would not be ignorant of the Electoral Act because it has not changed a huge amount in that respect since those days. Under section 7A of the Electoral Act, you can do exactly that. You do not need to amend the act to have that sort of vote because section 7A authorises the Australian Electoral Commission to supply goods and services. They can sit down and negotiate with anybody to carry out a vote—any community or any committee. I do not know what these committees are but the Labor Party are pretty good at committees. Most of their announcements leading up to the federal election have all been about creating more committees, so I guess that is where it all came from. So, when they talk of allowing some sort of committee to express a view, any sort of committee can go along to the Australian Electoral Commission right now and organise to have a vote. You do not need an amendment. These amendments are an absolute joke. It is a stunt. I warn people out there, when this bill is passed and the Labor Party put out press releases claiming that the coalition was opposed to plebiscites for communities to decide where at some time in the future there might be a nuclear power plant, to ignore them because it is just a stunt. Under the current Electoral Act all of that can happen. So forget the stunt that will come as a result of tonight’s vote.

That deals with the amendment. I will now sum up the bill. The government firmly believes that it is important for people to have a democratic say in matters that will affect them. This bill will achieve this for all Australians, not just for the people of Queensland. I welcome the support of my fellow members for this important legislation and I welcome the unanimous recommendation by the Senate Standing Committee on Finance and Public Administration in its report arising from its recent inquiry into this bill—namely, that it should be passed. Getting a unanimous recommendation from a Senate standing committee is no mean feat in itself.

As members are aware, this bill gives effect to the Prime Minister’s announcement on 7 August 2007 to allow the Australian Electoral Commission to undertake any plebiscite on the amalgamation of any local governing body in any part of Australia. This was in response to the Queensland parliament passing a law on 10 August 2007 that would have prevented councillors in that state having any involvement with a plebiscite on local government matters. We welcome the Queensland government’s backdown on its threat to penalise councillors for conducting or taking part in any plebiscites on local government matters. This was in direct response to this government’s sustained pressure to allow Queenslanders to express their views on the amalgamations without penalty. I reiterate this once more: if there were a federal Labor government in place at the moment then there is no way in the world that this legislation would have come forward and therefore you would not have had the Queensland government backing down.

This government did not intend to stand idly by while the Queensland government prevented councillors in that state from having any involvement with a plebiscite on local government matters. This government was and is prepared to have Commonwealth legislation override any draconian laws such as those passed in Queensland. As the Prime Minister has reiterated on a number of occasions, this government is not expressing a view on whether or not an individual amalgamation should occur; rather the Commonwealth believes that the people should have the right to express a view on the actions of the government without the threat of penalty. This bill achieves this outcome. Since 1992 the Australian Electoral Commission has had the ability to enter into arrangements to supply goods and services to a person or body. The Australian Electoral Commission presently conducts elections for trade unions, employer and other organisations, and other foreign countries. This bill does not propose that the Australian Electoral Commission perform different functions; rather what it does is clarify that the use and disclosure of information by the Australian Electoral Commission is authorised for the purpose of conducting an activity such as a plebiscite.

Contrary to some media reports and commentary on this bill, the government is not directing the AEC to undertake any particular plebiscite activity. The AEC retains its independence under this bill. The bill does not contain a power for anyone to direct the AEC to undertake a plebiscite or similar activity. Clarifying that the Australian Electoral Commission has the authority to use and disclose information it holds will ensure that people are able to express their views on proposals that may affect their democratic rights. Because this government is committed to ensuring that people are able to express their views on proposals that may affect their democratic rights, the bill also contains provisions that override state or territory laws if those laws seek to prohibit, penalise or discriminate against anyone entering into or proposing to enter into an arrangement with the Australian Electoral Commission. The timing for any activity such as a plebiscite as part of an arrangement entered into following the passage of this bill will be determined by the Australian Electoral Commission. I commend this bill to the House.

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