🚀 go-pugleaf

adm@ccadfa.cc.adfa.oz.au (David Moss) writes:

>On the contrary, this issue highlights the fact that the population base
>of the NT, and hence the size of its Parliament is still far too small
>for Statehood. There are Local Government councils with more constituents than
>the entire Northern Territory. 

Tasmania has a population approximately double that of the NT. 
They are a state - should they instead be considered a territory, and
hence have the rest of Australia walk over them?

Here we have a clear case of the majority of Australia telling a group of
a hundred thousand odd people what they can or can't do. If the people of 
the Northern Territory were not happy with the law, then they could easily
have voted out the government at a forthcoming election and had the law
revoked.

>If you would be happy handing over life
>and death decisions to your own local council, only then could you
>honestly call for NT Statehood. Most councils I know are flat out
>organising when pot-holes are filled in, or rubbish collected. 

I think you'll find that there is a slight funding difference between
a local council and the Northern Territory. 

Also, councillors tend not to be paid for the job - hence making it a part
time hobby as such and are not treated seriously in elections by the public.
I imagine that the people of the Northern Territory take the election of
their own government a lot more seriously than they would a council election.

>I really wish people would stop pushing the "religious fanatics"
>barrow.  I sat through the entire second reading Senate proceedings,
>committe stages and third reading. Iand barely heard religion
>mentioned. 

I listened to the Senate proceedings last week, also (can't recall which
night). Virtually every speaker who supported the bill made some reference
to "God", or to being a Christian. This is religion influencing
parliamentary proceedings, pure and simple. 

Even a single speaker using religion as his or her basis for making a 
decision is a misuse of the power that they have.


...Paul.



--
Paul Dwerryhouse                                        paul@xenu.ee.mu.oz.au
"The growing use of e-mail, not to mention Web-page publishing, threatens to 
reverse the trend towards illiteracy among the supposedly educated without at 
the same time improving their spelling". -- Michael Swaine, Dr. Dobb's Journal