EM4BARGO UNTI. L DIlMIVERy
FOR PRESS 18 M2VY 197 7
ADDRVESS TO TLOOWGOOBA1 R= -PLN) UM LU1NCHEON
Its -very good to be here in Toowoomba-speahkng in support of the four
riernddiil roposals,-beda Si hje. p) L-po0., a~ axga ust n
reaaon ahle-f-because -they -w'ill imtake-a-major contribution -to-Improving
te-ontiutin nd-because. the. pri-nciples of . t2he referenilufms weresupported
by thq Ho1tbat. Consttttpna _ Converitioj
SThese iref& enchur are a tiest of our'* abilty7 as a nation f_ o im* rove the
o6nttitutio7 Iin th1e t foiUnding" fa th dis intefde d lih WAy6ith
they provided for in the con~ titution itself. They are niot JIi} e many
other referendums which were initiated solely by Canbevw'a, which souglht
to increase the power of Canberra and of politicians, which sought to
undermine the States, which sought to weaken the Senate.
These reefnuswill strengthen the Senate and increase its ability
t. 0 protect the States.
The Constitutional Conventi. on overwhelmingly endorsed the principles
behind the referendune and this Convention was dominated by ' the States.
The States had 12 of the 92 votes at the Convention, the Commonwealth
only 16.
State representatives at the Convention outjnuxrbered Commonwealth
representatives by 4 to I. All four proposals passed in the House
of Representatives without a single dissent. The Senate, the body
whose powers the referenduims are suPPOsed tO thgrertcm, 1 passed theye
fere1dum proposals by ani overwhelTdngc maJority.
All t-he major Federal. Parties support the proposal on a bip tiz-an
) basis.. The National Party organisatiol) in Qu(-( eflS1tfd is firmly
behndthereerndus.. As Are outstz-. djinq Qu nL, Janders incluffingl
Sir Gordon Chalh, ~ asne Axmiabe: lle 1aliand Carics Adezrrnann.
2.
The simple fact is that these referendums wil. l improve our
Conutitut-ion strt-ngthen the Senate and more effectivelyI
protocct the States.
Those referndins are our opportunity to use the amnending p) rocess
the founding fathors bulit ilito the Constitution to ensure that the
Constitution which we are all rightly proud of is strengtLhercad and
cont-Inues to serve the needs of our nation.
-The . fjrst of tlia-four-refer-endumi proposals-is for simutaneous~ eettions
f~~ zh IUae-of Representa Lives and-ther Sena
, b.,-sinultaneous 0 ec ions -propor, l wa suppr-vmicafii,, usy t-tie
Corxvon tjon. -z Tho-e--in _-favour includad ' r -Knox, me.~ he -itLE,
1 4r,. Mr -Porter-an~ d: M. r. BjhcPtre -TvyYeesTEte
o6f -the QueensJ~ nd Government supported the simultaneous elections
proposal just 7 months ago atVt~ h Constitutional Convention.
The proposal that Federal elections always be held at the same time
. is just plain common 6ense, You should only have to vote in a Federal
mearis we will not have to vote in as many Pederal elections.
It will also protect the less poptilous States like Queensland when
there are separate elections for the House of Representatives political
leaders are tecmpted to appear mainly to the southiern States to New
South Wales and Victor-ia which have over 60 per cent of House of
Reprep~ ontatives* seaits.
But if the Senate, in which all States are equally represented, is
elected at the same time the, campaign must be fought vigorously in
all six States anid the views of the people of the leuss pop'uloua-States are
much more influential.
Somne have said that this referendum is tunnecessary, that simultaneous
elections can be achieved by bringing the House of Representatives
election forward to coincide with that of the Senate. But this is
neither practical nor a des'lrable method of achieving simultaneous
elections.
Unle.-ss the Constitution in chanqged the only way to bring the elections
together would be rep-eatedly t~ o cut short t-he term of the Houve of
RepresentatIves.
-3-
The three year tdrm is hcowever already zelatively short. One of the
shortest parliamentary terms in the democratic world. )? urthier reducing
it would damage good Governiment.
M~ ost importantly this propos . aNwill Maintain'and strengjthen the Senate
and the protection it cgives the St~ tes. tb~ is proposal is not passed
* the future of the Senate will' ultimate ly b; put in jeopardy.
It was an accident that in Nov er 95' when the House of Representat-i~
was dissolved, Bills existed wuxich pe9* tdbt oss ob isle)
Had Liberal Senators not been l'able'to face the people themselves,
a nunibex of them would not have tareed to I. Tlock supply. f
I myself would never have. sought-\ the blocking of supply from a Senate
thiat would not itself have alsoif aceWi7he, people of Australia.
If any House of Parliament were-to sent another House to the polls, while&
not itself facing the people, i-t wouxld not survive. if you believe
in the fundamental principle that the Senate should not be able to
force the Government to the polls unless the Senators themselves face
the voters at the same time the Contitution moust be changed to ensure
this will always occur.
You can do this by voting yes to simultanmeous elections on 21 May.
Unless the preaent situation is changed, I can foresee two alternative
consequences. The Senate migbt refuse to check a bad Governament
unless there were circumstances permitting a double dissolution.
Alternatively, if Senators were to mak~ e the House of Representatives
go to an eledtion alone, the publi. c outcry against the Senate could lead
to the Senate's powers bE, dmg restricted or abolished.
Either of these alternatives would damnage our demoaracy. That is why
it is important thatthis referendum be passed.
The second referendum proposal is that whenever a Senator dies or
rep= n8 lie, will. be replaced for the remainder of J4. teof offitLb
n~ pi~-y. This will guarantee that your choice of parties for
the Senate caninot be altered by accident or design. Under the
Constitution as it now stands, a Senate vacancy can completely change
the party balance.
But only the people should determine the balance of the parties in the
Senate. This is of particular importance to the less populated States
because it is the Senate in which all States are equally represented.
The importance of this cannot be understated, and the example Evan
Adexrnann put to me eei~, brings it home. He often travels home fromJ
Canberra. by air in the samie aircraft as almost all the Queensland
Senators. What would happen he asked if the aeroplane were to be
involved in a tragic accident? Would the people of Queensland, of any
State, be conteri to make the party affilication of their Senators
depend on some State Government observing a Convvention that might
be breached by considerations of political advantage.
Constitutions are supposed to make laws for-this sort of situation now
allow it to depend on the political calculations of Rate Governments.
Once th~ is proposal is accepted, the peoples choice will be preserved
until thiey have an. opportlanity to mnake * another choice at the next
election. The third referendum proposal is to. give voters in the Australi. an
Capital Territory and Northern Territory the basic right to vote in
AustrAlians have. I know~ of no rational or reasonable arg-ument, for
denying it to territorial voters.
They bava the same obligations as other Australians. They pay tax~ es,
they are obliged to observek the laws of the Commonwealth, they vote for
Members of Parliament. The outcome of referendums affect them as Muich
as they do other Australians.
Restoring this right ' mvill. strengthen Australian democracy.
The fourth and final referendum proposal in to set a retiring age: for
Federal Justices. High Coart Justices would retire at 70 and the
retirement age for other Federal Court Judges would be determined by
Parliament. The proposal does not affect the terms of judges
already appointed to the bench.
M~ ost jobs hnve'retireh-ent ages, and for good reason. Judges are
as affected by old age as the rest of us. j
In Queensland the Judges reUring age is set at 70, opposition to the
same retiring age for Federal Judges certainly-cannot be based on any
view that this adversely affects Queansland's judicial system. It is
only fair that after the age of 70 responsibili3ty should be handed over
to younger people. This is even more important, now that the new
system of. Federal Family Court-s has been set up.
All four referendum proposals are fair, just and reasonable. They have
been extensively considered, they have the nupport of all major federal
parties,. they do not i. nvolVe power -for Canberra, thbey will strengthen
the Sena-te and ensiuxe that it can bett-er look after the interes3ts of
the State. Trhey will. mWJ~ e the Constitution work~ better.
, The polls show that all referendums have substantial
support in all States.
Support for the four proposals is strong in ouesan, ?, ueansndez
have taitionally talken a leading role in Constitutional reform.
Voting in favour of referendumsa on no less than 18 of the 32 referendums,
since Fedexation, a far higher proportion than some of the southiern
states.
On Satwrday, I mm sure that t-he people of Queansland will vote kes
on four -more referendums. B3ut those people who tlhink the referendum
propo~ itions should ba passed, cannolt afford ito be complacent.
The referendiun. will not pass themcuelves.
All people who care about constitutional and political reform in this
country have a respongibility to wor); for the xeferendun;.
If we all do this then the referendurs will ) Le pasred and we will have
a Constitution which serves Australiai's needs toore effectively.
COO00