Lawrence Calls For Political Reform
August 25, 2000
Former Western Australian Premier and Federal Health Minister, Dr. Carmen Lawrence, has called for wide-ranging political reforms in a speech to the Sydney Institute. The speech is now available on VCEpolitics.com.
Lawrence, the Labor member for Fremantle, calls for a number of parliamentary reforms, including the establishment of an all-party Business committee to determine the business of the parliament. She proposes giving parliamentary committees the power to initiate legislation, especially if their recommendations have been ignored by the government.
The speech also refers to the increasing influence of money in Australian politics. She says: "We run the risk of
becoming a "corporate democracy" in which the number of shares you have purchased
in the party of your choice determines your effective voting power. While there has
been extensive debate about big money in politics in the U.S., there appears to be a
conspiracy of silence on the issues among Australian politicians.
Public funding of elections was supposed to reduce the parties' reliance on private
corporate and union donations: all that has happened is a blowout in both public
(doubled since 1993) and private funding as parties engage in an increasingly
expensive bidding war at elections."
Lawrence also calls for more involvement by women in the political process, but doubts that "the mere presence of women will prove sufficient."
The speech is essential reading for students studying the Parliament and Executive topics.
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