Barry Wakelin (Grey, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

About a month ago, on a fine Sunday, the Liberal Party members of Grey selected a new candidate to replace me at the next election. It was based on quite a historic event: a full plebiscite of all members.

Chris Bowen (Prospect, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We do that all the time!

Barry Wakelin (Grey, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We are not going to go your way! Of the 800 members, almost 400 people turned up, having travelled up to a 1,000-kilometre round trip, and they enjoyed an excellent day. The four candidates—Rowan Ramsey, John Voumard, Terry Boylan and Martin Whyte—were great candidates and they fought a very hard contest. I think some of them visited up to 400 delegates and rang another 200 delegates, just for the honour of contesting the seat of Grey at the next election. The Port Augusta branch put on the inevitable sausage sizzle and made it a great fundraiser. My electorate is almost one million square kilometres in size. It is not as big as Lingiari, the seat of my northern neighbour, but it approaches that size. The Liberal Party were able to come together and make a choice in a great spirit of camaraderie.

We are used to travelling distances, but I think most people in Australia would be somewhat amazed at the busloads and carloads of people that travelled hundreds and thousands of kilometres just to participate in democracy at the grassroots level. That commitment is a great testament to the Liberal Party members of my electorate. Plebiscites of all members, making decisions on who they send to this place in the future, are something to be recommended—indeed, to the Labor Party as well.