Topics: Senate electoral reform, Joe Bullock retirement.

E&OE…

MINISTER RYAN

Today is an important day to see whether the Labor Party is going to stop its childish behaviour in the Senate and allow debate on the electoral matters Bill that has come up from the House of Representatives. We have spent a day debating whether or not we are even allowed to debate it. This Bill is the product of a unanimous finding of the Electoral Matters Committee supported by the Labor Party at the time and supported by the National Secretary of the Labor Party in his submission. All this Bill does is guarantee that the vote in the Senate goes where the voter marks the ballot paper. That is the single most important principle – that the voter controls their own vote, as you do in the House of Representatives.

JOURNALIST

There is some suggestion this morning that the Greens are starting to get a bit jittery over this Bill, that potentially will not see it be passed in the next sitting period. What do you make of that?

MINISTER RYAN

I have seen commentary but the Greens, going back to Bob Brown’s leadership, have actually had a long-term commitment to these reforms. In fact, I think Bob Brown was the first one to raise it in the Senate. This is the important principle: the voter controls where the vote goes. Like in the House of Representatives, where you mark that pencil, where you mark that ballot paper, that is where your vote and preference goes. That is not the case in the Senate. Not only do you not know where your vote goes, it can be divided three ways, it can be divided between three parties. Quite frankly, I challenge anyone to go onto the AEC website and look up the group voting tickets in their state from the last election – it is almost impossible to track where the vote…

JOURNALIST

But how can (inaudible) it does appear that the Greens are now split on this issue, especially Sarah Hanson-Young who thinks that this system may see her turfed out if there is a double D.

MINISTER RYAN

I wouldn’t read the media commentary in that way. The Greens have expressed a long-term support – I think at some point virtually every member of the Greens has in the Senate to this sort of change – so I am not particularly concerned…

JOURNALIST

So you don’t think the Greens would call for an inquiry to try and delay a vote on this issue?

MINISTER RYAN

The Labor Party has been trying a lot of destructive tactics, what we actually have to get across is that they are trying to prevent debate in the Senate. It is not as if we are having a debate on it, the Labor Party has been trying some of the most juvenile tactics I have ever seen as they debated for a day whether we are actually allowed to debate it. There is an Electoral Matters Committee report that is being tabled today, and the Government, as I am sure other interested parties, will look at those recommendations.

JOURNALIST

What do you make of Joe Bullock deciding to call it a day, it spears that not many Labor people stood up after he gave his (inaudible).

MINISTER RYAN

Most of us in the Senate do try and turn up when people make a (inaudible) valedictory statement, I wasn’t aware that Joe was doing that. I think that goes to the core of one of the differences of the two sides of politics in Australia. On every issue members of the Coalition have a conscience vote, and Joe said that he can’t in all good faith advocate people vote for a Party that wasn’t in disagreement with his position but wouldn’t allow a (inaudible) or a conscience be expressed in the Party Room and I think that says a lot about the Labor Party.

(ENDS)