Ian Macdonald (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I am not a member of the National Party, so I cannot speak for them. But let me put on the record—and normally I would do it much more fully than I will tonight, because time is against us and we have been asked to be very brief because there is a big program to get through—that I have always supported the constitutional recognition of local government, as have, I think, most of my party; and I know that my colleagues in the National Party are the same. However, we all know how a referendum works in Australia: if you have any state government opposing it then it will not get through. As I said in my speech in the second reading debate, if you want constitutional recognition of local government then that can be achieved very easily today. All you have to do is get every state government to sign up to it. If you can get every state government to sign up to it and you can get a bill that works—that is the challenge for the Australian Local Government Association, but I am sure that they could come up with that—then we will have constitutional recognition.

As I said in my speech in the second reading debate, addressing members of the party to which the previous speaker belongs—which happens to control every state government in Australia at the present time—if you believe in constitutional recognition, get me a document that every state Labor government will support and then we can move forward. But I guarantee you, Madam Temporary Chairman, and the previous speaker that the state governments will not support it. The state governments, regrettably, are comprised of Labor Party majorities in every state in Australia. So that is where the block lies. I just wanted to put that on the record.

I have taken two minutes now and I know that the government whip is not keen on this but I would like to refer to Senator Brown’s amendment. The motion we are dealing with—