Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The people of the Western Territory have an opportunity before us. A committee of western MLAs and Aboriginal leaders have met over the summer months and have released a Draft Constitution for public consultation. I trust everyone agrees that it would be good to dwell together in harmony and unity.
The guiding principles are the foundation of partners in a new beginning. If we agree to these principles, we have a good start.
The model being presented is a draft. As much as I doubt that the majority of my constituents will embrace this specific model, I recognize that Aboriginal leaders will face similar challenges in arriving at a deal that their constituents can support.
It will only be a good and workable alliance if all parties can willingly participate because they see the proposal as balanced and fair. Let us stay focused on what we are trying to achieve bringing public and Aboriginal self-government together in partnership.
Representation is a key issue, because the people see it as their vehicle of significant, and clearly defined, participation through elections. A large and costly central government is contrary to the trend of the diminishing role of our central government. Communities through community empowerment and regional Aboriginal self-government through devolution of powers and authorities are assuming more and more control.
Powers of the central government are supposed to flow up from the communities and the regions as opposed to powers being devolved downwards. In that regard, in this draft, I do not necessarily see protection for those governments. I have no problem with guaranteed representation in a partnership agreement, however, I believe that there may be more equitable models of representation presented in the original one-house and two-house models contained in appendices, other models considered.
The demographics of the 14 existing ridings, ranging from populations of 800 to over 4,000, is already fairly generous in terms of regional representation. Ten of the 14 ridings are predominantly Aboriginal in make up and will continue to be for some time to come. To add eight guaranteed Aboriginal seats to this mix raises the question of perception of fairness and balance.
I also have some concerns regarding ratification of the constitution, but it may be premature to address this until a plan has been proposed and defined.