Yesterday the Territory Rights bill – the Australian Capital Territory (Self-Government) Amendment (Disallowance and Amendment Power of the Commonwealth) Bill 2010 – passed the Senate with some telling discussion from a range of Senators.
Senator Kate Lundy opened proceedings, foreshadowing minor amendments and suggesting:
“…the purpose of this bill is to remove the power of the executive to overturn territory legislation behind closed doors without a parliamentary process. This has become known as the power of veto, if you like, over territory legislation. It is an executive mechanism that we in the Labor Party agree does not accurately reflect the status, the capability and the maturity of either the ACT assembly or the Northern Territory parliament.”
Senator Lundy also noted the broader scope of an examination of the ACT Self-Government ACT:
“Through the course of the inquiry into this bill many comments were made, particularly by the opposition, recognising that it was time for a broad update of the Australian Capital Territory (Self-Government) Act. That recognition was across the board. In speaking to this bill as an ACT senator, I tend to agree. In fact the ACT government and Chief Minister have for some time been saying that it is probably time for an update of and a closer look at the Australian Capital Territory (Self-Government) Act, given that it came into force back in 1989.”
It is indeed time we had a comprehensive review of the Self-Government Act. The ACT’s ability to set its own laws without the threat of executive veto is only one element of what should be an extensive review into governance of the ACT.
The Opposition went on to oppose the bill yesterday, with Senator Gary Humphries more interested in attacking Senator Bob Brown and the Greens’ leader’s reason for putting this legislation to the Parliament than he was in debating the merits of the Bill and its fundamental change to the democratic rights of electors in the ACT. Senator Humphries is struggling in no man’s land on this question – on the one hand he has supported Territory rights in the past, yet yesterday he said he could not support:
“…piecemeal legislation designed more for political purposes…”
Senator Humphries argued that he knew what people in the ACT wanted and that he did:
“…not think they want the institution of self-government to be toyed with by federal politicians.”
So while Senator Humphries thinks the bill is about federal parliament toying with self-government, he is happy to reject a bill that gives the democratically elected ACT Legislative Assembly the ability to decide its own laws without the possibility of a federal Minister knocking down legislation at the stroke of a pen.
Senator Humphries accuses Labor and the Greens of playing politics, yet he’s happy to ensure the democratic rights of the people he represents continue to suffer because of his own party’s petty political point scoring.
Government is about reform by degree and this bill goes some way to providing equitable rights to the people of the ACT. A broader examination of the ACT Self-Government act should follow.
The full text of the debate is available here.
