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5 June 2002 Martin Lehmann
In a monumental act of hypocrisy, the WA Labor
government is ramming through parliament its infamous one-vote one-value
legislation, purportedly to give effect to improved democracy, but in reality to
entrench its position and to buy the votes of the minor parties in the upper
house.
The Labor party has been chanting its one-vote
one-value mantra for years and yet is one of Australia's most undemocratic
institutions. The thugs and standover merchants of the union movement have no
concept of fairness or democracy yet they control 60 per cent of the voting
power of the Australian Labor Party. This is not one-vote one-value. But it
is how the Labor party is controlled and run.
The Labor party also seems quite happy to be
the beneficiary of an unequal voting system in relation to the Senate. When the
founding fathers drew up the Australian Constitution they made it clear they
considered fair representation by the less populous states was more important
than equal representation. The Constitution provides for an equal number of
Senators for each state regardless of population.
Each state elects 12 Senators, with the A.C.T.
and the Northern Territory with 2 each, making a total of 76 Senators. If the
Labor Party principle was followed then Western Australia would be represented
by only 8 Senators.
Should the WA Labor government be challenged on
its current legislation it is open to the High Court to find that the move is
unconstitutional.
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