CRAIG COMMENTS

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The Constitution Commission appointed by the Victorian government recently visited Bairnsdale to hear opinions on reform of the Legislative Council in this State. The three member Commission, which does not have a country person on it, is to report to the Government by June 30 next year. It has a budget of $2 million. One thing is very certain - no government will accept any recommendation that might reduce the domination of the political parties.

The whole exercise will be akin to a rearrangement of the deck chairs on the Titanic until it is recognised that governments have a responsibility to all citizens to ensure that the nation as a whole is properly cared for and protected and that all citizens are treated fairly. The illegal immigrant issue has concentrated attention on parts of the nation that were obviously better known to foreign people smugglers than to the vast majority of Australians.

Similarly, the sorry state of the Snowy River did not attract the attention of governments until the voters of Gippsland East broke from their traditional support of the National Party and delivered a clout to the conservative side of politics that made everyone sit up and take notice.

The Snowy River is just one of the serious environmental issues facing the country. Inland, salinity problems were evident for decades before governments recognised that something had to be done about the problem. With approximately 80% of the area of Gippsland East being public land under the direct control of the government, residents of this region are aware of the many environmental issues confronting us.

It was the traditional role of the once proud National Party to keep the attention of governments focused on these issues but it is now apparent that they no longer rate highly on its political agenda. If the Coalition government was so sure that illegal immigration and financial management were the prime issues in the 2001 election campaign, why did it need to promise hundreds of millions of dollars for freeways to create further overcrowding in our cities? If it had offered that money to deal with environmental issues, the Greens may not have made the gains that they did.

One of the fundamental principles of democracy is that decision making should be as close as possible to the people most affected. Melbourne's development should not depend on the ambitions of political parties. Like other big cities, Australian cities should make their own decisions about the way that they should develop. Similarly, country people need representatives who will keep attention focused on the environmental and other problems that confront them daily.

The Victorian Electoral Commission has a difficult task in recommending a system of representation that is fair to all citizens. Voters are kept in the dark about the deals within and between political parties that can affect the way the State and nation are governed. It becomes impossible if it does not recognise that the size of the electorate a Member of Parliament is expected to represent has a significant influence on the effectiveness of an individual's vote.

page last edited: 26-Feb-2006