Cameron Thompson (Blair, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Would the Prime Minister advise the House how the government assists local councils to provide services to Australians? Are there any alternative approaches?

John Howard (Bennelong, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Blair for his question. I can say in reply that the government I lead does have a proud record of achievement in supporting local government. In the current financial year, we will provide about $2.1 billion in direct assistance to local government. That is $1.7 billion in local government financial assistance grants and $307.5 million in the very well received and strong Roads to Recovery program. These untied grants deliver a lot of services to Australians, which people especially but not only in regional areas come to expect: that is, waste collection and recycling, libraries and community centres and sport and recreation facilities. These grants have increased by more than 50 per cent since the government came to office in 1996.

Unfortunately, not all levels of government share our attitude to helping local councils in delivering these services. Right at the moment, in the great state of Queensland, the Beattie Labor government is ripping the heart out of local democracy with the dramatic slashing of council numbers from 156 to 72. This is being done without so much as a semblance of consultation with the people who live in these areas. Yet this is the Premier who, when I intervened on behalf of this government to help the people of Queensland who have been denied a service from the state government, accused me of riding roughshod over the rights of the state of Queensland. He is the man who is riding roughshod over the rights of people who not only sit on local government bodies in Queensland but are serviced by those local government bodies. This plan by Mr Beattie will slash thousands of jobs in regional communities and threaten the viability of many hundreds of small towns throughout Queensland. I fear that it is a harbinger of what might come if you remove the final check and balance against the excesses of state Labor governments—that is, a federal coalition government. We need checks and balances in our democracy and one of the great checks and balances is that you should from time to time have different parties in office at the different levels of government. Let me say to the people of Queensland who are unhappy with what their Premier is doing: within the limits of the Constitution we will do what we can to force the Queensland government to consult the people of Queensland and, if necessary, to shame the Queensland government into consulting the people of Queensland.

As the House will know, the Australian Electoral Commission conducts all federal elections and all federal referenda. The Australian Electoral Commission also undertakes a wide range of other activities. These include the provision of all election and ballot services for the trade union movement in Australia at a cost in the last financial year of about $6.2 million. This is not a fee-for-service arrangement; that $6.2 million bill is footed by the taxpayer. It is meant to ensure free and fair elections and ballots in the trade union movement. But at least on this occasion the trade union movement is going one better than Mr Beattie: it is actually allowing ballots to take place; Mr Beattie is not allowing the ballots to take place. What I am announcing today is that the government has decided to allow the Australian Electoral Commission to undertake any plebiscite on the amalgamation of any local government body in any part of Australia. Mr Beattie has threatened to sack councils if they dare to dabble with democracy. What Mr Beattie has said is: ‘If you dare to have a vote, we will threaten your jobs; we will threaten your livelihood.’ That is what Mr Beattie has said. Let me say back to Mr Beattie that, on behalf of the people of Queensland who are being denied a democratic choice, the Australian Electoral Commission will conduct free of charge, at the expense of the Commonwealth, referenda or plebiscites about the amalgamation proposals of the Beattie government in any of the local government areas. Within the limits of our constitutional power, we do not intend to remain idle and silent while the wishes of people in these local government areas are denied. We do not take sides; we simply—

Duncan Kerr (Denison, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I rise on a point of order on relevance. The Kennett government undertook the same—

David Hawker (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member will resume his seat. That is not a point of order.

John Howard (Bennelong, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Let me return to the scene of the crime and the Beattie government. What the Beattie government is doing is riding roughshod over the wishes of the people of many parts of Queensland. We are not trying to compel a ballot in every shire and every council area. We are saying that, if you want a vote, the AEC will conduct it and we will pay for it. I challenge the Premier of Queensland to let the people speak on his amalgamation proposal. Let the people of Queensland decide. Let this be a reminder that, if you remove the checks and balances in our system and have Labor governments at every level, this sort of behaviour will become the norm.