Hon. Norman Moore questions the Leader of the House about the government's policy on 'one vote, one value' in the Legislative Council, referencing a statement by the Attorney General. Hon. Kim Chance responds, affirming the principle's importance but deflecting direct responsibility.

AnsweredQoN 555Legislative Council
Asked
3 June 2008
Portfolio
Leader of the House

QuestionView source ↗

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL — ONE VOTE, ONE VALUE
I refer the Leader of the House to the internet media article to which I referred in a previous question. As stated in the PerthNow internet article the Attorney General said — “It’s my hope that one day we will get a one vote, one value system in the Upper House. Is it government policy to bring in one vote, one value in the Legislative Council? Hon KIM CHANCE

AnswerView source ↗

I am not sure that I am the correct minister to address that question to. I would have thought that it would be more appropriate to address the question to the minister representing the Minister for Electoral Affairs. However, I am happy to say that it is both the government’s and the Australian Labor Party’s view that democracy is a very important element of our electoral process, and to the extent that a democratic process means that no person is discriminated against on the basis of his or her gender, location, creed or a range of other matters, it necessarily means that one vote, one value is an ideal from the perspective of a democratic process. I am sure that in any nation in which democracy is valued to the extent that we attest those values, a similar arrangement would be found. Hon Norman Moore : Just yes or no would do. Hon KIM CHANCE : No, I think it needs some context, because it is an interesting question. Although I am not the minister responsible, I am entitled to a point of view on it. It seems to me that we should all be striving to achieve the principles of one vote, one value since every one of us avows the principles of democracy.
Hon KIM CHANCE replied: I am not sure that I am the correct minister to address that question to. I would have thought that it would be more appropriate to address the question to the minister representing the Minister for Electoral Affairs. However, I am happy to say that it is both the government’s and the Australian Labor Party’s view that democracy is a very important element of our electoral process, and to the extent that a democratic process means that no person is discriminated against on the basis of his or her gender, location, creed or a range of other matters, it necessarily means that one vote, one value is an ideal from the perspective of a democratic process. I am sure that in any nation in which democracy is valued to the extent that we attest those values, a similar arrangement would be found. Hon Norman Moore : Just yes or no would do. Hon KIM CHANCE : No, I think it needs some context, because it is an interesting question. Although I am not the minister responsible, I am entitled to a point of view on it. It seems to me that we should all be striving to achieve the principles of one vote, one value since every one of us avows the principles of democracy.
I am not sure that I am the correct minister to address that question to. I would have thought that it would be more appropriate to address the question to the minister representing the Minister for Electoral Affairs. However, I am happy to say that it is both the government’s and the Australian Labor Party’s view that democracy is a very important element of our electoral process, and to the extent that a democratic process means that no person is discriminated against on the basis of his or her gender, location, creed or a range of other matters, it necessarily means that one vote, one value is an ideal from the perspective of a democratic process. I am sure that in any nation in which democracy is valued to the extent that we attest those values, a similar arrangement would be found. Hon Norman Moore : Just yes or no would do. Hon KIM CHANCE : No, I think it needs some context, because it is an interesting question. Although I am not the minister responsible, I am entitled to a point of view on it. It seems to me that we should all be striving to achieve the principles of one vote, one value since every one of us avows the principles of democracy.
Hon Norman Moore : Just yes or no would do. Hon KIM CHANCE : No, I think it needs some context, because it is an interesting question. Although I am not the minister responsible, I am entitled to a point of view on it. It seems to me that we should all be striving to achieve the principles of one vote, one value since every one of us avows the principles of democracy.
Hon KIM CHANCE : No, I think it needs some context, because it is an interesting question. Although I am not the minister responsible, I am entitled to a point of view on it. It seems to me that we should all be striving to achieve the principles of one vote, one value since every one of us avows the principles of democracy.

Explore WA Government Data

Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.

Explore more