Review of parliament’s numbers is now needed urgently
COMMENT
By ROBERT WALLACE, TCCI’s chief executive officer
THE State election has clearly shown that a review of the number of politicians in the Tasmanian Parliament must be one of the first priorities for the new Government and the Opposition parties.
The election outcome means that there are insufficient elected members in any of the three parties to form a Cabinet that can effectively conduct the business of Government.While the decision to reduce the size of the Parliament 12 years ago may have received popular support at the time and served a political need for the Labor and Liberal parties to reduce the influence of the Greens and provide for majority Government, that consequence has been short lived. It has also created severe structural consequences that now inhibit any party occupying the Treasury benches in delivering strong and effective government.
Put simply, if the party asked to form the Government has only 10 or 11 seats in the House of Assembly, a Cabinet of nine, leaves a minimal backbench and little flexibility for future reshuffles or renewal over the term of the Parliament. Even if one or two ministerial positions are given to Upper House Members and the Speakership goes to an Opposition Member, it is inevitable that some portfolios will go to inexperienced and unproven MPs.
It is arguable that the previous Parliament, where Labor had 14 House of Assembly Members and three more in the Legislative Council, it still had too few choices for Cabinet, particularly when it had to cope with the resignations and retirements that occurred over the past four years. This latest election has put the spotlight clearly on this problem and emphasised the seriousness of Tasmania’s predicament.
So it is beholden on those elected to the new Parliament to address this issue as a matter of urgent priority.
This is not an argument for a bigger Parliament or more politicians, but simply recognition that the small size of the current House cannot deliver the level of good government that Tasmania deserves and requires.
It is incumbent on the new Government and both Opposition parties to now address this and act to ensure that we have a Parliament of a size appropriate for Tasmania and one that, even in the event of minority government, can provide sufficient MPs to form a properly functioning and effective administration.
In the short term, business and the Tasmanian community require stability and respecting the will of the electorate, Labor, Liberal and the Greens must guarantee that the Government is allowed to govern for most if not all of its four-year term.
Apr 05, 2010
As much as Tasmanians simply hate the thought of spending more money on additional politicians in our State parliament, I concur with Robert Wallace’s contention that the current number is too low. The stability factor Robert highlights is vital for good government into the future but there is also a ‘quality of government’ concern as a result of too few seats in parliament:
Political parties and Ministers change from time to time leaving the long term strategic planning and the day to day running of the affairs of Government to the various Departments and that is how it has to happen. Without adequate ministerial control and direction however, it is possible that some departmental effort that should be directed at serving the needs of the community becomes self serving to the department.
The recent election has seen a very experienced politician lose his seat through being too busy on ministerial duties to canvas his electorate and rising star Lisa Singh suffer the same fate for the same reason. Whether in Government or Opposition, experience such as theirs should not be wasted because of logistical problems causing ministerial overload. We should also be cognisant of the quality of political control ministers are able to exercise over their departments when their portfolios are too diverse.
Overloaded Ministers risk taking easy solutions offered by their respective departments which may or may not reflect the will of the people or the best long term solution to a problem.