Crispin Hull

Independent MLA Michael Moore has been attacked by both the Labor Party and the monopoly taxi provider in Canberra over his policy to deregulate the taxi industry. The aim of his policy is sound; they way he proposed it should be implemented needs further thought. The ACT has 202 taxis and the price of a plate is $241,000. In total, it is $48 million “”worth” of taxi plates. That “”worth”, however, is not value in the sense that a tangible resource is valuable. The value of taxi plates is a purely artificial creation of Government.

The Government limits the number of taxis on the road by law and therefore the value of having a part of this artificial monopoly is extremely high _ $241,000 to be precise. This cost, of course, is passed on tot he consumer in the form of higher taxi fares. True, the fares are regulated but when fares are set the cost of the plate is taken into account. In effect, the $241,000 is a government revenue-raising exercise and one that results in higher fares and fewer taxis on the road for the convenience of Canberrans.
Continue reading “1995_02_february_leader03feb”

Reading the tea leaves of the Fraser by-election. By CRISPIN HULL Some time in the past few weeks, the Member for Fraser, John Langmore, licked the tip of his forefinger held it up and turned it slowly around to guage the direction of the political wind.

Yesterday he announced that he would renominate for Fraser, abandoning an earlier expressed preference to move to Canberra _ the new central seat to be created at the next redistribution.

Mr Langmore’s announcement appears to be based more upon the flow-on from the resignation of Ros Kelly from the existing Tuggeranong-and-Woden based seat of Canberra than the poor showing of Labor in Saturday’s ACT Legislative Assembly election. Under existing boundaries, the ACT has two federal seats: Fraser in the north and Canberra in the south. These boundaries will apply at the March 25 by-election. However, there has been a redistribution to apply from the next general election under which the ACT gets three seats: Fraser in the north, Canberra in the centre and Namadgi in the south. In effect, the new name “”Namadgi” would be applied to the old Canberra seat and the new seat created in the centre from bits of the old two electorates would get the name “”Canberra” _ the seat Mr Langmore had earlier expressed a preference for.
Continue reading “1995_02_february_langmore”

The ACT should have a separate “”land account” so that the public could see what politicians were doing with the ACT’s $8 billion worth of public land, according to the Moore Independents. Moore Independent candidate Mark Dunstone condemned the Liberal Party’s policy of giving automatic renewals for business leases as pork-barrelling and giving community assets to favoured businesses “”at a time when we can’t even afford to properly fund our schools and hospitals”. He wanted an open account as recommended by several inquiries into Act land tenure. Present government-private joint ventures were only earning half the return that public land development should. “”It’s time the ACT public was given the information to judge what ACT Governments are up to,” he said. He called on Labor to state its commitment to the ACT leasehold system and indicate its support for 100 betterment tax when people changes lease purposes.

The ALP is comfortably ahead in the Federal seat of Canberra which faces a by-election on March 25 to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Ros Kelly. However, there is still a large undecided vote and the poll indicates that Labor is slightly behind its vote at the 1993 election. Surprisingly, the Green vote is lower federally than it is locally. The poll had Labor on 38; Liberal 29 and undecided at 26. After splitting the undecided, Labor would have a result not dissimilar from 1993: a reasonably comfortable win after the distribution of preferences.

Political analyst Malcolm Mackerras has argued that a by-election caused in these circumstances would cause a large swing away from the sitting party. That does not appear to have happened, though there are too many undecided to draw a firm conclusion. The poll was taken before candidates have been formally pre-selected, though the Liberals’ John Haslem, who held the seat from 1975 to 1980 had declared his candidacy. The poll was taken at the same time and with the same respondents (where geographically appropriate) as the poll on the February 18 ACT election. The result showed Federal matters were much clearer for voters and voters were more polarised than in the local election. The undecided vote was 10 percentage points lower and the vote for minors and independents combined was seven percentage points lower. And the same respondents in the seat of Canberra were used for both polls.
Continue reading “1995_02_february_kelly”

The Merit Protection Review Agency inquiry into harassment at the Australian War Memorial was ordered by the Minister for Public Service Matter, Gary Johns, without the input or possibly the knowledge of the portfolio Minister, Con Sciacca, according to documents obtained by The Canberra Times.

Mr Johns’s office acknowledged yesterday that Mr Sciacca had no input into the terms of reference, but said he had been informed of it.

Information received by The Canberra Times shows also that the Ministers were sent during the inquiry’s life Federal Attorney-General’s Department and other legal advice that the inquiry was flawed, but no action was taken on the advice. Since the inquiry into alleged workplace harassment was launched (it was never formally announced to the public) in August last year, up to eight staff have been off on stress leave at any one time, key and talented staff have sought jobs elsewhere. A Federal Court challenge to the MPRA’s unpublished findings is now under way by the former director Brendon Kelson and the present deputy director Dr Michael McKernan. Documents obtained by The Canberra Times reveal that the Minister for Veteran’s Affairs, Con Sciacca, had been provided with legal advice from the Attorney-General’s Department that the procedure and jurisdiction of the MPRA was defective and he had been urged to ask Mr Johns to stop the inquiry. Other sources say other legal advice to similar effect had been sent to Mr John’s office. Mr Johns’s office said yesterday that no legal advice impugning the jurisdiction or procedural correctness of the inquiry had been received. Mr Johns’s office said Sciacca had been aware of the inquiry, but had had no input into its terms of reference. Other material shows that the Public Service Commissioner, Dennis Ives, had expressed concern and doubt about the MPRA’s definition of workplace harassment as being too wide and beyond the defined public-service offence. However, the MPRA says it undertook its inquiry fairly, within jurisdiction, using the proper definition of workplace harassment. That is not the view of Mr Kelson and Dr McKernan. They assert the MPRA acted outside its jurisdiction, did not adopt procedural fairness, engaged in trawling for allegations and encouraged allegations to be brought, that it put allegations in a generalised way and did not confine itself to the definition of harassment in the public-service guidelines, among other things.
Continue reading “1995_01_january_warnews”

The Australian War Memorial has gone through a period of major disruption over the four-month inquiry by the Merit Protection and Review Agency in what is seen by some as a dangerous precedent in the Australian Public Service. It has also revealed one Federal Minister being taken totally by surprise by the actions of another that affected in his portfolio area _ similar in nature if not seriousness as the woodchip fiasco.

Information received by The Canberra Times shows also that the Ministers were sent quite early in the inquiry’s life Federal Attorney-General’s Department advice that the inquiry was flawed, but no action was taken on the advice. Since the inquiry into alleged workplace harassment was launched (it was never formally announced to the public) in August last year, up to eight staff have been off on stress leave at any one time, key and talented staff have sought jobs elsewhere and staff have been frequently distracted by gossip, hearings and generally taken up with inquiry matters rather than memorial work. A Federal Court challenge to the MPRA’s unpublished findings is now under way by the former director Brendon Kelson and the present deputy director Dr Michael McKernan. Documents obtained by The Canberra Times reveal that the Minister for Veteran’s Affairs, Con Sciacca, had been provided with legal advice from officers of the Attorney-General’s Department expressing the opinion that the procedure and jurisdiction of the MPRA was defective and he had been urged to ask the Minister responsible for Public Service Matter, Gary Johns, to stop the inquiry. Other sources say other legal advice to similar effect had been sent to John’s office. Johns’s office said yesterday that no legal advice impugning the jurisdiction or procedural correctness of the inquiry had been received.
Continue reading “1995_01_january_warmem”

Early next week the ACT Electoral Commission will make a very large contribution to the amount of paper that goes into our big bin with the yellow lid. As required by law, it is dropping in every letter box a 28-page, A4 size, explanation of the referendum we are all to vote in on February 18. It contains also a Yes case agreed upon by the Labor, Liberal and two Independents and a No case written by Abolish Self-Government MLA Dennis Stevenson. As voters flick through it on the way from letter box to bin, they will be left with a clear typographical impression they should vote No. Whereas the Yes is very poorly presented.

More of that anon. The referendum is to entrench the electoral system that about 65 per cent of the people approved in the advisory referendum in 1992, plus a few incidentals. It is by no means a foregone conclusion that the people will vote in that proportion again. It is unlikely, but it would not surprise me if the referendum were not passed. This is due to several factors: A quirk in the Federal self-government legislation which in practice requires that about 60 per cent of formal voters have to say Yes before the referendum is carried. A different make-up of the electorate. Ignorance and apathy, (not to be confused with stupidity, which most voters are not). And the nature of the Yes and No case going out to voters next week. Let’s take these one by one. Most legislation or constitutions providing for referendums have words like “”a majority of all electors voting” as the test for whether the referendum passes. The test therefore is 50 per cent plus one of the people who turn up and vote formally. In the ACT, however, it is different. The people who drafted the Self-Government Act messed it up. The provision uses the words: “”If a majority of electors approve”.
Continue reading “1995_01_january_referen”

The ACT Government’s light-rail proposal would cost each household in the ACT $1250 over the next three years and fewer than 10 per cent of the population would use it, according to the ACT Opposition. Opposition Leader, Kate Carnell, said yesterday that Labor wanted to spend $120 million of taxpayers’ funds over the next three years to get the first stage of the project running. There would be a minimum 10 per cent extra in parking fees and fines and parking charges would be applied in Tuggeranong and Belconnen Town centres.

The Opposition would not support the light rail proposal because it was economically irresponsible and with a capital cost of $509 million could cripple the ACT economy because the bulk of it would have to be borrowed. The Minister for Urban Services, David Lamont, was talking quite seriously about spending the equivalent of what it would cost to build two new major hospitals. “”All this from a Government which allows our existing bus network to continue to run at a loss of more than $1 million a week,” she said. Last month the Government issued “”Public Transport Options Study _ Stage 3. Canberra Light Rail Implementation Study” by Booz-Allen and Hamilton. It said light rail was feasible for Canberra.
Continue reading “1995_01_january_railkate”

Liberal legal affairs spokesman called upon the ACT Government yesterday to investigate claims made in The Sydney Morning Herald yesterday alleging US organised crime involvement in the Act adult video industry. The ACT Attorney-General, Terry Connolly, said the Australian Federal Police and National Crime Authority had on-going investigations into organised crime links with adult videos. The ACT and Northern Territory had opted for a legal X-rated (non-violent erotica) video industry because it was harder for it to be infiltrated by organised crime. It also made it less likely for child pornography and unclassified violent pornography to flourish because the legal outlets were open to scrutiny and had a vested interest in staying within the law.

Elsewhere the underground industry made both X-rated and violent pornography available indiscriminately because both were illegal _ they thought they may as well be hung for a sheep as a lamb. “”You could find hard-core violent pornography videos within an hour in Sydney or Melbourne; I doubt you could find it here,” he said. Mr Humphries called for a review of probity procedures used in determining the granting of a licence for the operation of an adult video store. Probity checks by the Labor Government had been shown to be defective with Vitab.
Continue reading “1995_01_january_porn”

Keys points in environment log of claims: Population and growth study. Ban battery hens, laboratory experiments on animals. Fee for plastic bags at shops. No SES cars.

Stop parks watering with drinking water; use storm and lake water. Native plantings in public places. Stronger enforcement of waste, weeds and other environment laws. Remove public financial incentive for urban renewal. Stronger leasehold and multi-centred planning. Public nomination for government appointments. Replace “”growth” with “”sustainability” as driving force for industry and government policies.