Lyn Allison (Victoria, Australian Democrats) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister representing the Prime Minister. Given that the Prime Minister is now the self-appointed champion of free speech and democracy in Queensland, will he be providing additional time for debate about his emergency intervention legislation being rammed through the parliament without proper consultation? Will he be apologising to Indigenous people for forcing a discriminatory system upon them without giving them a say? And now that public consultation has become a sacred tenet to him, will the Prime Minister invite a vote on whether Australia should proceed with nuclear power reactors or sell uranium to India, a country which refuses to sign the nuclear non-proliferation treaty?

Nick Minchin (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance and Administration) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We do defend our legislation with respect to Queensland local government, as my learned friend Senator David Johnston has explained. We do not choose necessarily to interfere in the affairs of the state of Queensland, but I think Senator Allison should understand that what Premier Beattie is doing is quite extraordinary and tramples all over proper democratic principles. It has always been my view that a state government does have a proper responsibility for the organisation of local government in its domain. We are talking about the third tier of government; we are not dealing with the local tennis club. We are dealing with a proper level of government with significant responsibilities who are elected by their constituents.

Robert Ray (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Robert Ray interjecting—

Nick Minchin (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance and Administration) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We have good men and women who put themselves up for election to this important level of government in this country—that is, local government. This has significant effects on the lives of ordinary Australians. And we have the Premier of Queensland trampling all over the rights of those people to express a view as to whether their councils should disappear or not. It seems to me a fundamental matter of democratic principle that if a tier of government is effectively to disappear then the people affected should have a say in that matter. It is the people of Queensland who have elected this tier of government. I draw a distinction here: it is a tier of government that we are discussing.

To go to Senator Ray’s interjection, it is my recollection that, in relation to the actions of the Victorian government, the Hawke or Keating government was in power at the time; it was not the coalition government that was in power federally. May I say that it would be my view that any past or future Liberal government should give the people in their state a say in whether or not their councils are to disappear. To that extent, in the past, when Mr Hawke or Mr Keating was in power, Premier Kennett should have been given his constituents a right to have a say in whether the councils in Victoria were merged or disappeared.

So far as Senator Allison’s question about ramming the legislation on the Northern Territory intervention through the parliament goes, I would point out to Senator Allison that the bill has now been in this chamber for three days. I think the debate is up to some 15 hours. It is rapidly approaching the point at which it becomes one of the most exhaustively-debated bills in the history of the Senate. I am advised that only 29 bills in 106 years of the Senate have been debated for over 20 hours, and this one is rapidly approaching that 20 hours. We are happy for this debate to go for as long as the minor parties wish it to go. If you want to stay here till Saturday night, we will stay here till Saturday night to debate this bill. So I would hope that the minor parties will not seek deliberately to filibuster on this important bill.

To the extent that the minor parties have legitimate and serious questions for the minister handling the bill, we invite them to put them. But we would caution them against unnecessarily filibustering on this bill. We are happy for this very significant legislation to be properly tested in this place. I am surprised that Senator Allison is complaining about the methodology. The Liberal Party of Australia and the National Party of Australia do stand for democratic principles and democratic rights. We have been the great defenders of the Senate; it is those opposite who have had it in their party platform for some 60 years that they will abolish the Senate. So we are the great defenders of democracy and of this chamber, and we stand by our principles. (Time expired)

Opposition Senators:

Opposition senators interjecting—

Alan Ferguson (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! I will not call Senator Allison until there is order.

Lyn Allison (Victoria, Australian Democrats) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. I thank the minister for his answer, especially his confirmation of the importance of democratic principles. I ask again: why will he consult Queenslanders over local government amalgamations but not Indigenous people over this legislation? Given that freedom of expression and democratic principles are so important, will the Prime Minister condemn the treatment of whistleblowers Andrew Wilkie, who publicly criticised the attack on Iraq, and Allan Kessing, who was targeted for leaking reports on security shambles at the Sydney airport?

Alan Ferguson (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am not sure whether that is a supplementary question but I will invite the minister to answer those parts that are relevant.

Nick Minchin (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance and Administration) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I think that in government you must deal with issues as they arise on the merits according to proper principle. In this case we have deemed that, in relation to a level of government in Queensland, the people of Queensland should be given the right to have a say in whether a level of government is gutted by the Premier of Queensland. And I note that the opposition fully support our position.

With respect to consultation on the Northern Territory intervention, I think that Minister Brough conducted very widespread consultation on the matter. He has the support of Magistrate Sue Gordon and of Noel Pearson and Warren Mundine. Significant leaders of the Aboriginal community support this. My assessment is that this intervention has widespread support throughout the Aboriginal community of the Northern Territory. Mr President, I ask that further questions be placed on the Notice Paper.