This is the Advisory Report from the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters regarding the proposed reforms to the Senate voting system.
John Faulkner: Balancing Government Effectiveness With Oversight And Scrutiny
Sep 30, 2003
Senator John Faulkner has delivered a wide-ranging speech on Senate reform to The Sydney Institute.
Faulkner, the ALP Leader of the Opposition in the Senate, said the Senate had evolved into an effective house of review but the task now was to ensure that governments can carry out their electoral promises whilst maintaining oversight and scrutiny.
Transcript of Senator John Faulkner’s Address to the Sydney Institute on Senate Reform.
Ladies and Gentlemen, in June this year the Prime Minister announced his Government’s intention to reform the “deadlock provisions of the Constitution in section 57.”[1]
For Mr Howard constitutional reform is a newfound interest. For Labor, constitutional reform is a long held conviction, reforms not solely about the moment, reforms not solely about advantaging the Government in power. Unlike John Howard and the Liberal Party, Labor has been committed to restricting the powers of the Senate since Federation. [Read more…]