Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

Councillor Firman does share some of the coalition's concerns. I hear the member for New England hear hear-ing the Temora Shire Council's due diligence, because he visited Temora in the wonderful electorate of Riverina only recently and he knows the wonderful work that Temora Shire is doing. He also knows the wonderful work that the shadow minister for local government, Senator Barnaby Joyce, is doing in this portfolio area. Chief amongst the concerns that the coalition has is the fact that the government only announced this referendum on 9 May, a mere four months before the election. Is that time to press the case for 'yes'? Time will tell. But it is, as the member for Tangney noted in his speech, perhaps not enough time. The Australian Electoral Commission would have preferred more time.

Mr Windsor interjecting—

The member for New England can disagree with me there but the AEC said that more time should have been allotted. I wonder, was this just another distraction by the Gillard Labor government? Time will tell.

As members are aware, of the 44 referenda since Federation, only eight have passed. If the Labor Party was genuine about this change it would have announced a referendum much earlier and would have ensured that there was a proper community-wide education campaign to demonstrate why the Constitution needs changing. The Electoral Commission agrees, warning Labor that there is 'a range of risks' in announcing a referendum so late in the electoral cycle. Referenda will only pass with a double majority—that is, a majority of people in a majority of states and with bipartisan support.

This change does have bipartisan support, even though we have heard the member for Tangney disagree and even though there are other members of the coalition who disagree and who are putting the 'no' case forward. But, overall, there is bipartisan support. This change does have that support. We all know that Labor has not properly consulted with the states, particularly my state of New South Wales.

In essence, the Labor Party has set up this constitutional change to fail. It is using it as a wedge issue, a distraction. Labor is using the constitutional recognition of local government to divert our attention from what this election should be all about—a referendum on the disastrous six years of government from this broken Labor Party. It is the responsibility of the government to demonstrate that this referendum proposal has a reasonable chance of succeeding at a general election. The coalition—or many members of the coalition—and I will be trying to help this get through. But there is not much we can do about the timing of its announcement by the Prime Minister and the Minister for Regional Development and Local Government, Minister Albanese—he took over, as you will recall, from Minister Crean during that recent failed spill.

At the federal council of the Nationals, held in Canberra just last Saturday, the party voted overwhelmingly in favour of supporting the constitutional recognition of local government.

See this speech in context