Crispin Hull

This week the ACT Legislative Assembly will vote on whether to allow Casino Canberra to have poker machines.

The change has been introduced by former Liberal and now independent Trevor Kaine.

The casino has been trying to get poker machines for the best part of a decade. In the past it has put forward various schemes and proposals in a way to get around the poker machine ban, most recently a half-baked plan that part of its floor area be a registered club. Only now has it abandoned artifice and (pardon the pun) put its cards on the table.

The latest proposal is more straightforward. Give us some pokies, the casino argues, and we will pay more into government coffers.
Continue reading “1999_12_december_casino pokies”

The snowboarders were so close to getting home alive. They were less than two kilometres from the top of the Crackenback chairlift where there was food and shelter. Thousands of cross-country skiers have gone past the place where they perished. Many have camped there.

It may be early to speculate but a fairly common pattern with these sort of events is that the snowboarders, skiers, hikers, divers or whatever do not recognise the danger they are in until it is too late.

Continue reading “1999_11_november_snowboarders”

The results of the referendum indicate a divide on educational and geographic lines, rather than on political lines.

Trawling the seat-by-seat results, reveals pockets of high-Yes voting in affluent, urban seats, many of them very safe Liberal seats. Those areas also correlate with higher educational levels on Australian Bureau of Statistics figures.

A belt of Yes votes (some higher than Canberra) came in from the affluent, well-educated, solid Liberal seats of Sydney’s North Shore. Bradfield, Australia’s safest Liberal seat, voted Yes (56 per cent). Sydney (Ted Mack’s old seat) was on 68 per cent. John Howard’s seat of Bennelong voted 55 per cent Yes. Monarchist Tony Abbott’s seat of Warringah was 55 per cent Yes. North Sydney was 62 per cent.
Continue reading “1999_11_november_seat-by-seat ref vote”

THREE arguments do not wash. One is: “”We have not had enough information.” The second is: “”We have not had enough time.” The third is: “”Our leaders have given us a confused message.”

These excuses frequently came up in the referendum campaign.

They could be translated: “”We have been too lazy to look at the masses of information until the last day or two. We are too lazy or stupid to think through what is rubbish and what has merit.”

The information was there for those who applied just a little effort — like reading it. The proposals and issues have been around for a very long time.

A lot of the campaigners have been far too polite about the Australian voter. All trotted out the cliches that the Australian voter is intelligent and well-informed.
Continue reading “1999_11_november_referendum forum”

The people of the ACT will vote Yes for a republic and Saturday’s referendum and No to a preamble, according to the latest Canberra Times Datacol opinion poll.

The poll shows a 53 per cent Yes vote in the ACT for the republic proposal, 38 per cent against with 9 per cent undecided.

Support for the republic was higher among men, among the 35 to 55-year-olds, and Labor voters.

Attitudes in the ACT are widely thought to be more republican and more in favour of voting Yes in referendums than in the rest of the nation.
Continue reading “1999_11_november_referendpoll”

Australians will be asked on Saturday to approve Australia becoming a republic and to insert a preamble in the Constitution.

Polling stations will be listed in a advertisement by the Australian Electoral Commission in Friday’s paper.

The two questions will be asked on separate ballot papers.

For either change to take place it will require a majority of voters to vote Yes in a majority of states (that means four states) and for an overall majority across Australia.

People in the territories also vote in referendums. Their vote counts only towards the national majority, and so usually does not matter. The territory votes would only make a difference if four small states voted Yes, but the total state votes did not quite make a majority. Any Yes majority in the territories could be added to make a national majority.
Continue reading “1999_11_november_referend”

The Governor-General has been taking on an increasing number of national representative functions. Earlier this year it was the flower ceremony at Interlaken to mark the death of the Australian canyoners. Next year it will be the Olympics.

Thredbo and Port Arthur were other occasions where the Governor-General’s presence was valued.

It is an important role.

It is one the Prime Minister of the day is less suited to. We can recall Bob Hawke being booed at football finals. John Howard could have been booed at the Olympics.

It goes with the job of prime minister that about half the people will not have voted for you and that probably half of them are dyed in the wool opponents who might jeer and boo at ceremonial and celebratory occasions.
Continue reading “1999_11_november_referen wash up”

President same as GG

Except:

Appointment

Removal

Qualification

Consequential provisions> Refernces in legislation can be changed by legislation.

Saving provisions.

Transitional provisions

Costs: coinage changes anyway when Queen dies or ages.

Military insignia

Continue reading “1999_11_november_ref detail”

ABOUT THE POLL

Poll Conducted : 24 Oct to 1 Nov 1999

Sample Size : 555

Sample Method : Random Digit Dialling Sample of ACT households

Survey Method : Computer Assisted Telephone Interview (CATI) survey

Survey Scope : Persons registered to vote in ACT

Respondent Selection : Eligible person with most recent birthday.

A referendum will be held in just under two weeks time on the question of Australia becoming a republic. You will be asked to choose either :

The present system, that is keep the Queen and Governor as now, or a republic in which a president, who will be elected by a two thirds majority of the Federal Parliament, will replace the Queen and Governor General. In the referendum will you vote to keep the present system as it is now, which would be a “No” vote, or will you vote to change to the proposed republic, which would be a “Yes” vote.
Continue reading “1999_11_november_pollquestions”

Peace appears to be at hand in Northern Ireland. After centuries of violence and mistrust between Catholics and Protestants it now appears they will sit together in a joint executive government for the province.

It now appears that 11 weeks of deadlock over the timing of disarmament by the Irish Republican Army the IRA had refused to begin handing in its huge arsenal of guns and bombs until after its political wing, Sinn Fein, got a position in the executive to be formed from the new Northern Ireland Assembly. Now the IRA has given some ground and so have the Protestant Ulster Unionist Party led by David Trimble.

Continue reading “1999_11_november_leader20nov ireland”