E? 413APGO: 7.3 p . f AUSTRAL! A
FOR PRESS 2 M1AY 197 7
ADDRESS TO THE A. C. T. DIVISIO. N OF THE LIBERAL PARTY.: ANNUAL D'
Madam Chairman.
The political rights of residents of the Australian Capital
Territory have reached a cross road. A referendum will soon
decide whether ACT residents will have the right to vote in
future referendums. High Court challenges lave been zma:-de
against the ACT's representation in the Commo'nwealth aianz
and we are moving towards a substantially greater dc,-* ree of ogovernment
for the ACT.
It therefore seems appropriate to speak to you tonight abou te
politimi rights not only of ACT residents but of all Austraia! z.
Flowing from our over-riding concern for the individu.-al, Liberals
* believe that all Australians should be adequately in-formed of
Government decisions, have as great a say as possible suchL
decisions, be given the greatest maximum degree of choice in how
they live their lives, and be protected from unnecessai-Y ivas--. oz
of personal privacy.
We have initiated a wide ranging progra~ te designed to i:-, rove
the quality ofIustralian democracy. Our determination nco give
the people of the ACT their democratic rights is an imncr7arn
part of this prcg-ra-mze. First, on 21 M, 1ay, we will tc. a ot
of the people the prcDosal that ACT and 11crthern Territc.--
residents have a vote at all future referenciums. I t s ee
extraordinary that Territorial voters have so long been l~ nc-.
such a fundamental right. The outcome of referendums isjust
as important to Territory voters as it is to all dther Asrlz
Iknow of no rational and reasonable argurment for d-rnyin-soma--
Australians this basic right. But more of referend,= s later.
We have also decided to introduce a substantial measare of sel.-
Dngaeomvtaeiirnl-einSdm ternpatrt oivfpeoo rs aanltsdh e ffAoinCrT a nt. bc1y2ii a9 dl etlrpcao, nw, saeftresi rn gt oO fa awnpi odweele er crtaaenrdeg e nAooCf-T, . Alsg~ sevzb~ v?
aicsdo nmztih-dtenc ieonrteardta. ito icnnaI tl 7cl-4aupsibtt aeb le, c lsotsraicr-slnys1eI fdric ca ha-o; newtr gveeavdre er, a tos thtohafe t Cbocel= iccua) yursn e. -2Canirh..
SoM-e 7people mnay think th.. tb~ e pre~ sent system works Ie
endsho~ dnot be alLered. But as Canberra b-) co-nos a-,
ignrceraetaerz indgelgyr eel arogfe aaunthdo iycOndnr~ oPWlexb itm etropolis, accepitbionirga
* desirable and ', IneScapable.
Since ACT and Northern Territory representation in the Federal
Parliament is under challenge in the courts, I cannot comment
extensively on this issue, except to say that the Government
wholeheartedly supports representation of the ACT and Northern
Territory in the Parliament.
Australians have a lively tradition of effective scrutiny of the
activities-of Governments and officials. We have a vigorous.
press which is seldom reluctant to criticise the Government of
the day, and Parliament provides many avenues for inquiry into
Government activity, notably Question Time, and the activities
of the Public Accounts Committee, the Senate Estimates Committees
and the Auditor General.
The Liberal Pat-ty has been committed both in opposition and
GovernmenttD increasing Parliament's effectiveness. It is our
intention to strengthen the traditional Parliamentary safeguards
and the investigatory role of Parliament. We have established a
Public Expenditure Committee which has already. commenced its task
of carefully vetting particular areas of public expenditure, and
this process of reform will be a continuing one. We are commiiitted
to safeguarding the public interest against any tendencies to
excessive secrecy or interference in Australians' lives, and to
take steps to meet the increasing demands placed upon Government
for information on its activities.
We as Liberals have a commitment to increase citizen's participation
in decision making. First, we are most conc erned to protect
individual privacy. In April last year we referred the matter
of protection of privacy to the Australian Law Reform Commission.
With the increased computerisation of data on the personal details
of each of us, it has become necessary to legislate to give positive
protection to the privacy of each of us. The Law Reform Commissi4on
recently issued a discussion paper called Privacy and Publication-
Proposals for Protection The Commission is now inviting public
comment on these proposals. When the Government has received the
Commission's final report, we shall give serious consideration to
introducing legislation to increase your rights against unwarranzed
invations of personal privacy. The Government has also initiated
a programme to increase the publication by Government Departments
of relevant and useful information. We propose to publish manuals
and rules of procedure adopted by Commonwealth Departments.
All Departments with significant operational functions will produce
informative and relevant annual reports, even where there is no
statutory requirement to do so. The Government is also considering
reform of the Government Information Services pursuant to
recommendations submitted by the Coombs Royal Commission.
Our third policy objective in this area is to confer certain rights
on individual Australians to obtain upon demand information about
Government activities. While a Government must not reveal advice
*. given to it in confidence there is often no good reason ub'y
factual information held by the Government should not be disclosed.
/ We believe
-3-
We believe that there should be a positive requirement, backed
by the force of law, that such information be made available
when it is sought, subject only to limitations which are clearly,
necessary in the national interest. We intend to bring forward
legislation on freedom of information which will incorporate
this principle. Moreover, we will introduce comprehensive
archives legislation which will set out in clear terms the
rights of bona fide researchers to obtain access to records
held by the Government.
Finally, we have introduced a number of measures to enable
individual citizens to obtain prompt and fair readiness of
genuine grievances. We have brought into operation an administrative
appeals Tribunal. It is empowered to review a wide variety
of Government administrative decisions which affect individuals.
The Tribunal reviews the whole case on its merits and may
substitute its decisions for that of the official who made
the original decision. To complement this initiative, we
propose to introduce a new simplified system to make it easier
for citizens to test the legality of administrative action by
Government officials.
A citizen may have a decision reviewed by the new Federal Court
if he feels the decision is not simply misguided by illegal and
beyond the powers of the official concerned. In addition, the
newly appointed Ombudsman, Professor Richardson of the ANU, will
be able to assist directly citizens with a justified grievance
against some Government action. The Ombudsman will commence
operations about the end of June this year.
To review the adequacy of all these procedures, the Government has
established an Administrative Review Council. One of its first
tasks will be to recommend standard procedures to be adopted by
all Commonwealth Administrative Tribunals. We are also taking,
steps to implement the international covenant on Civil and Politica.
Rights. To this end, we intend to establish a Human Rights
Commission.
This concerted programme of reform and enhancement of our democrati.:
system provides the context for the referendumsa on 21 May. You,
in the ACT, will be able to vote on only one question your
choice of a National Song for Australia. But voters in the six
states will be asked to vote on four proposed changes to the
Constitution. These four proposal-are considered and necessary
reforms which will improve our Constitution. I am well aware that
the success rate of referendums in the past has been low, an-. often
for good reason. For so many of the referendums in the past have
been nothing more than a grab for power by the Commonwealth.
These re ' ferendums are different. They protect the rights of the
states. They maintain the power of the Senate. They do not
extend~ the power of the C'ommonwealth, and they do not seek more
power for politicians. All the changes are fair and sensible
reforms which will improve our Constitution. / The fot=
':-Tfhoeur changes are these. First, that Senate and House of
SRepresentatives elections always be held at. the same time. It is
' simply common sense that the elections be held together, and that
S i: the only time you have to vote in a Federal Election is when you
have to choose Australia's Government. This proposal will maintain
and strengthen the power of the Senate. . It also means we will not
have to vote in-as many Federal Elections.
" It is sometimes said that elections can be brought together by the
Representatives election being brought forward to match the Senate.
That is not practical. Even after the last Double Dissolution, when
the elections were held together, the two Houses are now out of
phase. That is because the Senate's term is fixed by the
Constitution and is back-dated to'the previous July 1. The term of
Members of the House of Representatives dates from the time of swearir
in, usually a few weeks after the election. Thus, if the elections a:
to be together, under present provisions there would be the continual
risk of having to cut short the term of the House of Representatives
already a relatively short term of only three years.. This will not
help good government.
The second referendum proposal is that, whenever a Senator dies or
resigns, he will be replaced for the remainder of his term of
office by a member of the same party.. This will guarantee that
your choice of parties for the Senate cannot be altered, by
accident, or by design. It is fundamental to our democracy that
only the people should determine the balance of the parties in the
SSenate. The third proposal to which I have already referred is to give
voters in the ACT and the Northern Territory the basic right to
vote at referendums. This is precisely the right all other
Australians have now. It is a right which residents of Canberra
used to hold and which was taken away when the ACT was created.
Our democracy is the weaker until this basic right to vote is
restored to citizens in the ACT and Northern Territory.
The last proposal is to set a retiring age for Federal Judges.
High Court Judges would retire at 70, and the retirement age for
other Federal Court Judges would be determined by Parliament. Most
jobs have retirement ages, and for good reason. Judges are as
affected by old age as the rest of us. Federal Judges will still
be completely independent. All State Judges are subject to retiring
ages. No one has ever suggested they are not independent.,
So those are the four changes on which Australians will vote on
21 May. Although Liberals in the ACT are precluded from voting
on them I am delighted that a number of Liberals from Canberra
have been actively campaigning in the States for a Yes vote.
The proposed changes are simple and straightforward. They are fair
and sensible. It is for this reason that I am confident that these
referendums will succeed.
Madam Chairman, thank you for your invitation to me to address the
ACT Division of the Liberal Party tonight. I wish your Division ever
success in the Legislative Assembly elections to be held later this
year. The increasing role which citizens here are being asked to
Splay in the Government of the ACT provides a great challenge to the
S Liberal Party, and I am confident that you will accept that challenge
and take a leading role in this transition to greater authority andc
r. e sponsibility..