NSW: Debnam to bring parliament into 21st century

AAP General News (Australia)
10-22-2006
NSW: Debnam to bring parliament into 21st century

SYDNEY, Oct 22 AAP - NSW Opposition Leader Peter Debnam is proposing parliamentary
reforms designed to "drag parliament into the 21st century".

Mr Debnam today announced a coalition government would update some of the conventions
of parliament derived from the House of Commons in the 16th century, if elected in March
next year.

The proposals include limiting members' responses to questions during question time
to 10 minutes, requiring ministers to speak on their own legislation rather than parliamentary
secretaries, and introducing electronic voting in both houses of parliament.

"What's fairly attractive both from a time-management point of view and a public point
of view is actually doing electronic voting using swipe cards," Mr Debnam said.

"It's just swiping them `yes' or `no', and that would instantaneously record the vote
and allow it to be instantaneously put on the parliamentary website."

Currently, votes are counted through a head count, with the details of each vote posted
on the internet a day later.

The bulk of the reforms are designed to lift standards of ministerial capability and
restore the public's faith in parliament, Mr Debnam said.

"It's not only time to drag the parliament into the 21st century ... it's also time
to actually reintroduce a sense of accountability to the critical democratic institution
of NSW."

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KEYWORD: PARLIAMENT DEBNAM

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