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TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS
Friday, 13 February 1998
Page 14
CHAIRMAN- Prior to
moving on, I would like to ensure that all ballot papers have
been properly put in their envelopes and sealed. All counts and
the names of those who voted will be recorded and distributed in
the Hansard of today's proceedings.
In the federal House
we have a proceeding normally called a special adjournment at the
end of a sitting and it seemed appropriate that we might have a
similar procedure at this Convention. On behalf of all delegates,
I should say to you that the Deputy Chairman and I have prepared
a memorandum which we are about to present to the Prime Minister.
Because of the vote having just been taken, we are trying to get
it updated. It will then be distributed and, while we are having
these special adjournment proceedings, all delegates will have
some chance to have a look at that aide-memoire. Essentially, it
reports no more than the votes taken and the proceedings of the
Convention and makes the recommendations which you have just
passed to the government and to the parliament.
On wider issues,
there are a few matters that I would like to cover. I might then
call on the Deputy Chair to speak and I have notice of a motion
from Kirsten Andrews, to be seconded by Mr Graham Edwards, on the
general question of those who have attended.
On behalf of us all,
I would like to start by saying to the Australian public: you
have been wonderful. For most of us it has really been quite an
extraordinary experience. Those of us who have been in parliament
for a while expect more brickbats than bouquets. I think all of
us have found it incredible that so many in the wider community
have been interested in our proceedings. There have been
something like 80,000 visits to the Internet home page, something
over 17,500 visitors to the public galleries in the course of the
few days of the Convention- that was to last night- there have
been more than 1,000 written submissions from the Australian
public, more than 300 people have been through the public gallery
per hour and there has been, in many other ways, involvement of
the wider community. I think it appropriate that, therefore, we
all thank you first.
Secondly, I commend
each of you as delegates on what has been quite a fun occasion.
Barry and I are used to the adversarial circumstances of
parliament. It has amazed me that so many have presented their
cases eloquently, with good humour and with considerable effect.
I commend you for that. I think it has been quite a remarkable
demonstration of Australian democracy.
The other list of
people that I need to identify is extensive. I want to run
through them because they have all been important. First, Prime
Minister, to you and your government, I thank you for the
catalyst which enabled this to take place at all. There is no
doubt that while many were cynical about the nature of a
convention, it has been a very important part of the process of
preparing Australia for the next century. I commend you, Prime
Minister, and your government for that. I thank the Leader of the
Opposition for the endorsement that he and his team gave. It may
have been a bit jaundiced at first but the bill got through, and
you have certainly participated wholeheartedly and thoroughly,
and we appreciate that.
I thank Senator Nick
Minchin, the minister responsible for the Convention. He has
really ensured that all your administrative arrangements worked
as they should, and far more. To Bill Blick, who sits on my left,
John Doherty and their team, we all owe a particular debt of
gratitude. There is an enormous amount of administrative detail
necessary for an event like this. We particularly appreciate what
you do and have done. In that same category I would like to
extend our thanks to the Hon. Howard Nathan QC and Peter King,
who have been the counsel assisting both Barry Jones and myself,
and of course our own personal staff, in particular, Andrea Hess,
who has been so magnificent. So much would not have happened if I
had not had her assistance.
A number of others
have been absolutely essential to this Convention. To the ACM and
the ARM and all others of you who, as elected delegates, had
volunteers and other supporters and contributors, this convention
also owes a debt. But for them, you would not be here and but for
them, the quality and quantity of your argument would have been
significantly inhibited. So I thank you.
There is then within
this place another horde of people who have been most
significant. The media have looked down on us and pried into what
we think of as the fishbowl of politics. You will know now why we
feel so often as though we are swimming out there in a small pool
and you observe our every movement. We thank you because without
you, again, the public would have been inhibited in their
participation. Among you- and unusually for me- I would like to
commend the ABC. Your involvement in this event has been
extraordinary. Your coverage has been excellent and, what is even
more amazing, so too has been your reporting. I think for that we
should all be both thankful and grateful and commend them.
To other people- the
attendants, the bus drivers, the taxi drivers, the Comcar
drivers, certainly Hansard and Bernie Harris- I extend my
thanks. I offer Lyn Barlin, the former Clerk of the House of
Representatives, a special thanks. He came back from retirement
to keep Barry and me on the straight and narrow and he has done
it well.
There are many other
volunteer staff and supporters around this place. One that I did
want to identify is Castle Catering. Those of you who are not as
familiar with the place on the hill that we customarily eat in, I
can tell you that it is nowhere as well served as you have served
us during the course of this fortnight. Thank you, and a job well
done.
There are then but a
few other thank yous to make. The one that is important is to
Barry Jones, who as my deputy has been quite outstanding. For
your good humour, your rather effervescent approach to the
proceedings and for the professional way in which you have
handled your task, I extend my thanks. The professional
conference organisers have also been very significant in making
things happen.
Finally, but by no
means least, a thank you to our families, including my wife. I
know your partners have all missed you in the course of the
fortnight. They may or may not be glad to see you return, but I
can tell you that home comforts will look great after a
fortnight- for some of you- in this rather restricted
environment. Above all, can I say it has been a remarkable
occasion, and for your participation I offer my personal thanks.
DELEGATES-
Hear, hear!
CHAIRMAN- I
would like Mr Barry Jones to say a few words before we hand the
Communique to the Prime Minister.
Mr BARRY JONES- Mr
Chairman, at our first function out in Kings Hall on the Sunday
night of the reception, I said that my great hope, as Deputy
Chairman of the Convention, would be that delegates would leave
with a feeling that they had been treated fairly and had had an
opportunity to express their points of view. I hope that this is
true of the overwhelming majority- an absolute majority,
certainly- of delegates, although this afternoon I have had the
feeling, and I concede, that it may not be a unanimous view.
I would have to say
that for myself the hardest thing was to sit in the chair and not
make helpful suggestions and corrections of fact to the speakers.
I must say it has all been intellectually very stimulating, but I
have heard some astounding things said on both sides of the
House.
As I remarked last
night when we had our dinner, it took an astonishingly short
period to turn this diverse group of 152 delegates into something
really very close to a parliamentary or a quasi-parliamentary
forum with all the differences on party lines and sometimes
people looking around a bit uncertainly to see which way that
they were expected to vote. Sometimes there were some unlikely
politicians or quasi-political figures emerging, including Arvi
Parbo, Geoffrey Blainey, the twin archbishops and so on who
played a very interesting role.
I must say, too, that
the experience as Chairman of the Resolutions Group was something
I will never forget; it will certainly be worth a chapter in the
memoirs. But, in fact, I think there has been a high level of
civility and goodwill. I think that in a way we have done
something to augment the sense that the political process is
viable, but we have to perhaps look at many issues, not just this
one, in different ways; we have to be more inclusive, we have to
be more welcoming and we have to be more open.
I think this has been
a very good exercise for the Australian polity, and I am grateful
to all of you who have put so much into it. I conclude by
expressing my gratitude to Ian Sinclair, who I think has provided
superb leadership.
DELEGATES-
Hear, hear!
The Chairman and
the Deputy Chairman having presented the communique to the Prime
Minister-
CHAIRMAN- I
will call the Prime Minister first, and I then have notice of two
resolutions. I will then call Mr Beazley.
Mr HOWARD- His Grace
the Archbishop of Melbourne said that God had had a pretty good
Convention. Without in any way wishing to belittle the Almighty's
success, I think Australia has had an even better one. This
Convention has demonstrated the truth of a proposition that I
have always held very dear, and that is that the things that
unite us as Australians are greater than the things that divide
us.
I ask myself: what
have I learnt from the last two weeks? I have learnt something
that I was not so sure of at the beginning: I have no doubt that
Australia can conduct a referendum on this issue with vigour,
with passion and with meaning, and yet in a way that does not
undermine or fracture the essential values of our society.
I have learnt from
this Convention that the Australian way of doing things is
special and unique. I have not experienced anything like this in
all the years that I have been in public life. The bringing
together of so many people in different ways, with different
backgrounds, with different contributions, with different views
was something that at the beginning one might have though was
fraught with danger- anything could have happened and anything
could have emerged.
In terms of the
positions that were taken, I suppose that, at various stages,
that appeared possible but, in a great display of civility and
good humour, and with great integrity in many areas, it was
possible for us to live out what has been a moment in Australia's
history- a moment that I am sure everybody has treasured.
I have been a member
of the federal parliament since May 1974. I have been immensely
privileged to come to the highest elected position in this
country and to be given the greatest honour that can ever become
the lot of any Australian man or woman, and that is to be the
Prime Minister of our wonderful country. I would, therefore, have
thought that in terms of that sense of excitement and
exhilaration, I had enjoyed it all, but there was something
special about this gathering, something which showed in the looks
on people's faces.
I share Geoffrey
Blainey's response to the look on the faces of Malcolm Turnbull,
Neville Wran and Janet Holmes a Court. They are not people with
whom I have identified very closely on this issue, but they
obviously have an enormous enthusiasm for it and they felt a
sense of exhilaration and happiness when what they had worked to
achieve was, in fact, achieved.
I also pay particular
tribute to Lloyd Waddy and Kerry Jones, the leaders of
Australians for Constitutional Monarchy. I know the difficulties
they have endured in putting forward a cause which, for a long
time, received very little support or recognition in commentaries
on this issue. I know about their lack of resources. I know what
was said and suggested at the beginning about their propensity to
vote strategically. I salute the immense integrity of the way in
which they have handled themselves throughout the entire debate.
The reason why this
Convention has been a success and the reason why it has captured,
to a very significant degree, the interest and imagination of the
Australian people is that, despite our differences, we all smell
the same eucalypt, we all the know the same dust, and we all feel
the same salt in the same ocean. Those things which are dear to
one side of the argument are equally dear to the other.
What has struck me
more than anything else about this Convention and the whole
debate is the integrity of the Australianism that has been
expressed by all the delegates. I will go away from this
Convention an even more idealistic Australian, one with an even
greater passion to allow our democracy to flourish. We will have
a vote next year. The Australian people will decide the outcome
of that, and we will all accept the verdict of the Australian
people with grace and goodwill- all of us, whatever the result
may be.
It was always my
fervent wish that this issue could be resolved in the sense of it
not being on the agenda when we celebrate the centenary of our
federation. If Australia is to become a republic, it ought to
become a republic on 1 January 2001. If Australia is not to
become a republic at that time, let it be off the agenda for the
celebration of the centenary of our Federation so that we can
share together the jubilation, the gratitude and the affection
that we feel for what this country has meant to us over the last
100 years.
That does not mean to
say that the issue, if it is rejected next year, will not
necessarily return. It is in the nature of a democracy that that
is always open to the people, but this is the celebration of 100
years of the Australian nation, with all its achievements, and
acknowledging all of its blemishes. On that point, one of the
things which has enriched this Convention has been the
contribution of the representatives of the first Australians- the
indigenous people. I hope that in some way this is a sign to you,
Lois, Gatjil, Nova, Pat, George, Neville and David, from all of
us that you occupy a very special place in our community.
I think we can look
forward with great hope and in a very positive way to the conduct
of this referendum. This Convention has spoken very clearly. It
is the intention of my government, if it is returned at the next
election, to hold the referendum before the end of 1999. In the
meantime, in the nature of things, other issues will flood back
to the stage of public debate. I imagine that there will be a
period in which the debate on this issue might go slightly onto
the backburner, particularly in so far as some of the more active
political players are concerned, but that, once again, is in the
hands of the Australian public.
We will not backtrack
on the commitments that we have given, and I have given in the
name of my government. I said before the last election that we
would have a convention. I promised the Australian people a vote
before the year 2000. I said at the opening of this Convention
that if a clear view emerged about a republican model the
Australian people would have a referendum. I repeat my promise
that that will occur. I repeat again that the members of the
Liberal Party of Australia and therefore, in practice, the
members of my government, will be allowed an open or free vote
during that campaign.
I am proud that my
party, the Liberal Party of Australia, allowed a conscience vote
on this issue. I do not say that to criticise the other parties.
I simply say that it is a mark of the maturity of my party that
we did that. This is an issue that is atypical; it is different;
it does not follow the normal conventions and canons of political
behaviour. I am very proud that the Liberal Party is mature
enough and strong enough to allow people an open and free vote on
this issue.
I want to say to you,
Ian, that you have adorned the proceedings of this Convention in
a way that has won everybody's admiration. There is nobody, and I
repeat nobody, in this room- and I am not normally noted for
modesty in these things- whose parliamentary skills and
management skills in a chamber such as this are as consummate as
yours and you have demonstrated that.
Barry, you brought
with you your particular role as National President of the
Australian Labor Party but also, because of who you are, the
character that you are and what you mean to many people in
Australia, you brought an added quality as Deputy Chairman of the
proceedings. I also salute very warmly the contribution that you
made.
I would like to thank
Nick Minchin in particular who has carried the ministerial
burden. Nick has two specific responsibilities- and many others-
in my government. The two specific ones he has have been very
lively of late. One has been the Constitutional Convention and
the other has been native title. He has worked very hard and has
been a great source of support and strength to me in this. I
would also like to thank a member of my personal staff, Catherine
Murphy, who has been of particular help to me and to Nick and has
kept me informed.
Can I join in
thanking the secretariat and, in particular, Bill Blick, who is
from my department, who has headed up the secretariat. To Lyn
Barlin, whose work as Clerk I admired immensely, I am delighted
that he has been able to help us out.
There is not a lot
more I can say. I am really so happy that we have been able to
hold something so different, so special. We have come through it
as better Australians; we are all the happier for the experience.
The memories that I will take away from this include the lovely
grace sung last night by George and his wife, which was a
beautiful touch and a reminder of the special diversity of our
country, and the immense intelligence, dignity and bearing of the
younger delegates to the Convention with their variety of views.
But we should not forget that the aged cohorts at the other end
of the range were also very well represented. Their contribution
was considerable and we are greatly in their debt.
It has been a very
special experience. I have loved every minute of it. I feel
privileged to have been the Prime Minister who brought it about.
I think it has brought us together as Australians, whatever the
outcome of the referendum might be, in a very special way. Thank
you very much.
DELEGATES-
Hear, hear!
Mr BEAZLEY- Mr
Chairman, the train is still running. There was no train wreck.
The Convention produced an outcome, and produced it, I believe,
very well indeed. So, Prime Minister, if I could, through you, I
congratulate your ministers, your staff and our public servants
on the organisation of a magnificent Convention.
One of the things I
note most about it is that they were most keen to give us a sense
of history about it- both in our surrounds and in the medals and
the briefcases they gave us. There was a wonderful sense of
occasion organised here for all of us. We are getting better and
better at doing our history. This is a Convention which has been
graced with all the proper accoutrements as well as what went on
on the floor.
I also congratulate
the delegates. This has been an extraordinary two-week
parliament. We did not like the way it was appointed and we had
our complaints about it, but it turned out some pretty good
people. My office over the last couple of weeks has had a steady
roll of correspondence from Australians saying things about what
they have seen of this Convention on the ABC and portrayed
elsewhere, and it has been enormously flattering, particularly of
the younger delegates- and deservedly so. I am grateful I have
had 18 years in politics because I can feel the hot breath of
Generation X on the back of my neck after this particular
gathering.
There are some very
talented people in politics outside the major parties in this
nation. I can only hope that they make a choice to involve
themselves in our affairs. I believe if they do that they will
contribute massively to the good governance of the nation. One of
the things this Convention has teased up is the knowledge in all
the political parties that there are still faults in their
recruitment procedures, because there is work to be done to
ensure that the best of Australians have the opportunity to serve
in what I sincerely believe to be the best of all parliaments.
I congratulate,
firstly, my republican colleagues and the ones who have actually
carried the battle in this. This has been carried by Malcolm
Turnbull and his team. It has been carried by the dissident
republicans as well. They may not have been among the numbers of
the republicans, but they have had their views. Some of them have
paid a great deal of their personal funds, in terms of the
election campaign expenses, to be here. I know Malcolm did it in
relation to his team in ARM, and I know Clem did it. Between the
two of you, you have probably seen the best part of $600,000
devoted from your personal resources to the republican cause. I
think that bespeaks well of your commitment and your passion.
With that sort of spirit and passion I think we will see a great
deal as this debate proceeds.
Let me say at the
outset that if the party I lead are in opposition, we will
support this referendum and, if we are in government, we will put
it. I think that the procedures that have taken place here have
to be honoured by all sides of the political process, and they
will be. As the Prime Minister said, they will be honoured by us
and they will be honoured by him. You have honoured the
commitment that you have undertaken in your performance here and
the way in which the procedures have been conducted.
After 18 years, I
know a deal about parliamentary processes and I know basically
what we were presented with was a possibility of anarchy. You may
think things here have proceeded rather well and so they have,
but let me tell you that it is a close-run thing. The Chairman
had ideas about what must be done and the government had an idea
about what had to be done, but the chairpersons and the
government have no majority here, and what happened was a
spontaneous establishment of a parliamentary procedure and
orderly disciplined processes.
I particularly want
to congratulate the committee that was responsible basically for
all the motions that came before us, and the role that they
played. Barry chaired it. I want to thank my deputy, Gareth, for
the role that he played in this, Daryl Williams for the role that
he played in that regard as well and the other members who served
on that committee. They have ensured that what could have been an
extraordinarily difficult process proceeded in an orderly and
disciplined way, and they did very well by it. There are always
great risks at a convention like this and we have come through
it, I think, exceptionally well.
I join the Prime
Minister, too, in congratulating what might be termed the `other'
categories of delegates who were here, and I start with our
indigenous people. We have not found the right way yet to ensure
that our indigenous people are represented properly in the
mainstream of Australian political life. We have not found the
method for that. The method needs to be found, and perhaps that
will come out of the reconciliation process. But they certainly
have had the proper role here- there is no question about that-
and have taken full advantage of it to express the feelings of
their people to the nation. And, in the circumstances of a
convention on the republic, what better place to do it?
I congratulate the
category of delegates who came from the states- my own party
colleagues, the Liberals, the Nationals and others who are
represented here. They have done their particular state bodies
proud. They have had a view. The view has been broader than
themselves, and they have argued that view here very effectively
and very logically indeed. I congratulate also those who have
represented here the fact that we are a multicultural nation.
This is probably more representative of the true character of the
Australian nation- both in age distribution and multicultural
background- than any other forum of the nation. That has been a
noted contribution to the debate and it has been incorporated
within it. I include in that regard the religious component as
well who have made an extraordinarily good contribution. I also
congratulate the delegates who represented the monarchical
position. This is a difficult convention for them as these are
difficult times for them and they conducted themselves with very
great dignity. They did very well from that point of view.
Lastly, I come down
to you, Mr Chairman, and your deputy. I was at one of the
numerous gatherings organised once by the National Party to try
to tell you that your career ought to be terminated. I presented
you at that occasion- many years ago now- with a picture of the
heavy cruiser Australia after the action in Leyte Gulf
when it became one of the first victims of the kamikaze campaign
of the Japanese. It was a bit of a wreck, it has to be said, and
I thought it sort of represented you after the years in politics.
So I presented it to you with a sign which said, `This is, we
think, an appropriate picture of you. From your detractors in the
Labor Party.' The guns were silent, the bridge was knocked out,
the funnels were askew, but the ship moved on.
You too have moved on
and have graced this chamber with your presence in the final
session of your political career which still has perhaps other
phases to it but not in parliament. You do look very properly
ensconced in that chair. Can I thank my colleague the Labor Party
President who has been the Deputy Chairman here. It would be a
foolish person in this Convention who would take a historical
point on Barry and probably even a procedural point on him. You
will not necessarily get an accurate answer but the volume will
shut you up. He has- as in everything he does- really graced this
chair.
My final word of
thanks goes to you, Prime Minister. I did not like the particular
proposition that you put together and I still have some doubts
about it, but you took a few risks with this. I just hope we see
you on the hustings with us when this vote finally comes to be
put before the Australian people.
CHAIRMAN- If
only parliaments at the federal and state level in Australia
could agree to the same degree of unanimous acceptance, it would
be remarkable. I have two delegates who have asked whether they
can raise matters. One is a matter to be raised by Kirsten
Andrews and supported by Mr Graham Edwards, and I understand Sir
Richard McGarvie also wishes to move a motion.
Ms ANDREWS- I want to
express appreciation on behalf of the delegates. We have heard a
thankyou to the many staff who have served us and assisted us
over the last two weeks. I think there is one thing that we all
agree on, and that is that there has probably been more than 152
delegates worth of egos in this room over the last week or so,
and it has been incredibly hard. The media have noticed that some
of the tempers that we have been dealing with have been
difficult. We have worked extremely long hours. One thing I am
aware of is that, no matter how long the hours were that we have
worked, those in the secretariat, the catering staff- whether we
are trying to send a fax or an e-mail or obtain a vegetarian
meal- have served us with diligence and goodwill and that has
certainly been appreciated by me, by Mr Edwards and by many other
delegates. I would like to express on the record my appreciation
on behalf of the delegates. Thank you.
Mr McGARVIE- Mr
Chairman, I move a motion supported by my good friends Lloyd
Waddy and Malcolm Turnbull. I am moving this partly because I am
judged to have more white hair than anyone else here, partly
because I am not aligned, and partly because my two colleagues
think it is about time I moved a motion that I will be able to
get up in this Convention. I move:
That this
Convention expresses deep appreciation for the great contribution
made to the success of this Convention and to this nation by the
outstanding, fair and tolerant chairing of this Convention by the
Rt Hon. Ian Sinclair and the Hon. Barry Jones, the arduous and
effective work of the Resolutions Group, the skilled and
demanding services provided by the honorary advisers, Mr Peter
King and the Hon. Mr Justice Howard Nathan, the ever patient and
skilled services and assistance of the staff of the Convention
secretariat, the staff of the Attorney-General's Department, the
staff of Old Parliament House, the efficient Hansard staff
and the outstanding internal and external television coverage of
sessions in this historic Old Parliament House. The detailed
coverage of the public proceedings of the Convention is testimony
to the public interest in the issues involved.
I speak only on one
item of that, and that is the way in which this Convention has
been chaired. People asked me before the Convention how it would
go. I thought it would go well, and I told a number of people it
would depend entirely on the way it was chaired. All my
aspirations and hopes have been satisfied. I am sure that I speak
on behalf of every delegate when I say that what could have been
a failure has been a tremendous success in Australian national
life, and this nation owes a very deep debt of gratitude to you,
Mr Chairman, and you, Mr Deputy Chairman.
CHAIRMAN- A
number of other people have asked to speak, but I think we are
probably all talked out, unless they really want to speak.
DELEGATES-
Hear, hear!
CHAIRMAN- I
missed mentioning one person who has been terribly important in
the whole deal, a man called George Scarfe. George is currently
responsible for managing and maintaining this wonderful old
building. I say to George, we thank you for allowing us to bring
it alive, and long may this wonderful venue continue to serve for
conventions and meetings of this order. Would you now all please
rise to sing the national anthem.
Delegates sang the
National Anthem.
CHAIRMAN-
Thank you, Delegates. I hereby declare the Convention terminated.
Convention
adjourned at 4.08 p.m.
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Last updated: 21 October 2000
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