Hansard debates

  Mr COLE -- When in opposition the government vehemently opposed amalgamations.

Its members attended  public meetings and  made  their attitude clear  when they
said,  When the proposal goes to the Upper House we  will stop it. Whether it be
Geelong, Melbourne, Morwell or Swan Hill we will stop it; we will block it .
Of course the National Party went over the  top! An  amalgamation in rural areas
would really  knock its power base, and I look forward to  the Premier taking on
rural councils;  I am sure the Deputy Premier will  be at the front of the queue
when the government amalgamates councils in National Party strongholds.
I  remember reading a report in which certain people said,  We do not have party
politics; we are all members of the National Party,  we know what is happening .
We  know  how  difficult  this  subject  must  be  for  the  Minister for  Local
Government,  being  a  paid-up  member of the National Party, and with  so  many
people in country shires and boroughs worried about losing what power and office
they now hold!

That  was  the  reason  in   the  mid-1980s  for  vehement   opposition  by  the
conservatives to amalgamations. They cried,  We want a two-year review process .
The  honourable member for  Mornington made an  interesting  and quite  humorous
speech when he spoke about the way the former Minister for Local Government, Jim
Simmonds, rushed  things through. In all the time I  knew Jim  Simmonds I  never
knew him  to  do anything  quickly,  including the conduct  of  local government
inquiries. He set up a commission which  travelled around Victoria and explained
its purpose to Victorians.
Rights and  wrongs aside,  had we  in government attempted to do what this  Bill
seeks to achieve, the then opposition would have opposed it.
  Mr Kennett interjected.


  Mr COLE -- You are on record as having done that! The Premier said that had we
done it  in this way he would  not have opposed it. What a load of nonsense! The
then opposition said that a two-year  inquiry was too short a period -- but this
proposal was conceived in only  5 minutes! The conservatives are very good, when
discussing reforms and change, at saying,  Don't do it; it's a bad measure , but
when they get into power they do exactly what was originally proposed. They talk
about allegiance to the Queen  and get upset but they  will roll over the  whole
community  in  Geelong without  any  regard whatsoever for  the  needs of  those
people.
The Premier reacts to many problems by saying,  Get the bulldozers, charge along
and with  a bit of luck everything will turn out right because everyone has been
waiting for change anyway . He  thinks  the  introduction  of this Bill now will
avoid creating a controversial election issue in three years, or

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whenever the coalition falls apart and is thrown out of office!
The opposition strongly argues  that a plebiscite should  have been conducted on
the  amalgamation  issues.  Such a poll would not have detracted from  what  the
government is attempting to  ram through this place because of its total control
in both Houses.
The attitude of  the government towards the  Borough of Queenscliffe, with  only
3500 residents, is the harbinger of things to  come because the powerful Liberal
Party forces in Queenscliffe were able to argue that  they  are  different  from
Geelong people. The Liberal  Party power base there said,   If you think you are
going to take Queenscliffe away, think again. If you do it  to us you will be in
trouble--. So someone got  on  the telephone, and what happened? For no apparent
reason other than Liberal  political purposes there is  the absolute anomaly  of
Queenscliffe not being included in the amalgamation.

Why  is it  that 350 000 people can be excluded from amalgamation?  No-one could
possibly  argue  that  it  makes  logical  sense  on  any ground of planning  or
economies of scale to do so.
It is the political imperative  -- and don't the conservatives love it! They say
they act  with propriety but when the telephone rings and it is the power forces
within  the Liberal Party on the other end the government  jumps. Hence,  for no
logical reason the  Borough of Queenscliffe is  preserved in perpetuity. The sea
will take it away before the Liberal government will,  and the depth of the  sea
changes by one  inch  every 10 000 years,  about as quickly as  a  Liberal Party
policy emerges!
  Honourable members interjecting.


  Mr COLE - Oh,  for  the good old days when  we  knew what to expect  from  the
conservatives! Now  we never  know which way  they are  coming from.  I am  also
concerned about -- --
  Honourable members interjecting.