Arch Bevis (Brisbane, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Homeland Security) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the committee. I thank the member for Hinkler for his courtesy. It demonstrates what a fine gentleman he is. Perhaps in State of Origin season there is a bond between Queenslanders that is more powerful than some people imagine. But sincerely, Paul, I thank you for that.

The report of the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs on Northern Territory statehood is a timely reminder to us about an issue that has been on the federal political agenda now for more than 30 years. I think it was Malcolm Fraser who, during the 1975 election campaign, promised statehood for the Northern Territory, and it has clearly been on the minds of people in the Territory as a serious issue from that time forward. I am aware that the Northern Territory government have put in place a program over about a 10-year period to raise this issue with the people in the Northern Territory to look at the various matters that make this a complex issue, but also to put the threshold question to people in the Northern Territory as to whether they believe the Northern Territory should change in status to become a state. I understand that at fairs, carnivals and other community gatherings around the Northern Territory, Northern Territory administration stalls provide information packs and even an opportunity for people to cast a vote, much as they would in a real referendum.

The committee’s report makes a couple of important observations that are worth noting. It reflects poorly on the federal government as a partner in this discussion. The report notes at paragraph 3.44:

One of the clear messages emerging from the seminar was that people wanted to know more about the Commonwealth position ...

The difficulty is that the Commonwealth position has been virtually non-existent since the referendum in 1998. Elsewhere in the report, paragraph 3.49 reads:

The Committee understands that the Commonwealth Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, the Attorney-General’s Department and the Department of Transport and Regional Services have not undertaken significant work on statehood issues since the failed referendum of 1998. Furthermore, the Commonwealth has not updated its position on Northern Territory statehood since 1998 ...

That means that for the best part of the last decade the Commonwealth has shown no interest whatsoever in the issue of statehood in the Northern Territory. The Northern Territory government are properly going about a system of consultation and education with the Australians who live in the Northern Territory and it is time that the Commonwealth became a partner in that process. It is time that the Commonwealth engaged constructively with the Northern Territory government and with the Northern Territory people so that this issue can be pursued. I am not sure what the view of people in the Northern Territory ultimately is on this question. But once the threshold question is determined there are clearly a lot of matters of detail that need to be determined, and the report canvasses some of those.

No-one suggests that this is a quick or speedy process. The fact that the Northern Territory government have embarked on a 10-year program is an indication of the sorts of time lines that are needed even in the eyes of those who I suspect are very keen for the Territory status to be changed to that of a state. It makes it all the harder though for the Northern Territory government, but most particularly for the people in the Northern Territory, when the Commonwealth just does not engage. This report tells us that, since 1998, the Commonwealth has dropped the ball. The Commonwealth has not been a partner in this process and that needs to change.

I trust the committee’s report will be a useful reminder to those in the government with responsibilities in these areas—in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, in the Attorney-General’s Department and in DOTARS—that they should shoulder their fair share of the responsibility in furthering this debate. It is a debate that has been on our plate in the national parliament for about 30 years. It has not been a high-profile debate and, apart from the referendum in 1998, I guess it has not been a high-profile, level 1 issue in most parts of the Northern Territory either. But the people of the Northern Territory deserve to have this important constitutional question pursued fairly and reasonably. That cannot be done unless the Commonwealth becomes a partner in that process. The Commonwealth was a partner in that process in the 1970s. It was again a partner in that process leading up to the 1998 referendum. It has dropped the ball since 1998. Now is the time to pick the ball up. I hope the committee report encourages the government to do just that.

Debate (on motion by Mr Neville) adjourned.