Mr HAASE (7:35 PM) —I rise this evening to bring to the attention of the House the question of legislation in respect of one vote, one value being passed in Western Australia by the ALP government there. I have long been opposed to the one vote, one value electoral model being forced on country people in WA by the Labor state government. Kalgoorlie-Boulder City Council have proposed and then postponed a decision whether to contribute $10,000 of ratepayers' funds towards a fighting fund against this electoral reform. However, their mere consideration of providing funds has sparked an uproar from the local subservient ALP, which has accused the mayor of politicising the debate, and has resulted in the Premier, Dr Geoff Gallop, jumping up and threatening to cut funding to country areas that fight the electoral reform. Dr Gallop said in the West Australian on 8 March:

This kind of response is typical of a government that is determined to take representation away from the bush and hand it on a silver platter to the city. Eight seats in rural WA will be lost. An additional eight seats in the city will make their stranglehold on numbers even more savage. An ALP state government will not ever have to worry about country services again. The country voice is being stifled, and the last thing country people should be expected to do is merely stand back and be steamrolled. For Dr Gallop to respond in such a manner is nothing less than bullying tactics.

Our Kalgoorlie-Boulder Mayor, Mr Paul Robson, is not playing politics; he is displaying leadership. The fact is that the Liberal and National parties are part of the WA Country Alliance, which has had to resort to fundraising to fight the reform legislation. ABC Goldfields-Esperance quoted state Labor member for Eyre, John Bowler, as saying that $140,000 of taxpayers' funds would be spent to present both sides of the argument. In fact, $70,000 has been supplied from the Legislative Council budget to procure advice for a neutral case, while the government case supporting the legislation is being taxpayer funded through the Solicitor-General's office. The government refused to help fund the opposition case and then stoops to threats when the WA Country Alliance is forced to approach shire councils for funding.

John Bowler has of late come forward and stated that he will fight any moves to cut funding to areas that contribute to this fight. He realises his leader Dr Gallop has stepped over the line and says he will not tolerate the threats and will fight it in the party room—commendable, but this is from the same member who, during the state election campaign one year ago, said he would not support the proposed legislation but, almost immediately after being elected, turned around and voted for reduced country representation.

Any leader of a country based population who does not oppose this legislation is either very stupid or treacherous. Is it a matter of party interests being placed above those of the people one is supposed to represent? Why should country ratepayers stand idly by and be swamped by city based powerbrokers blatantly using their numbers to ride roughshod over country values? I know first-hand of the effect of one vote one value, as this is the federal system that we have adopted. I have an area of 2.3 million square kilometres, or 91 per cent of Western Australia, as my electorate, and this is supposedly equality on the basis of one vote, one value!

The state government would endeavour to replicate this system from a state perspective. It is not equitable; there is no way that access or representation for country constituents will, in the future, be anything like equal to city constituents. I give those opposing this legislation my utmost support, because my strength lies behind the rural people of WA who, if this legislation stands, will again be the ones getting a raw deal.