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PublicComment Number 6

HonMichael Hodgman QC MP

3 Page(s) HON MICHAEL HODGMAN QC MP Parliament House Her Maj esty's ShadowAttorney-General HOBART TAS TOOO for the Stateof Tasmania ShadowMinister for Justice Phone: (03)6233 2891 and WorkplaceRelations Fax: (03)6233 2779 Liberal Member for Denison michael.hodgman@ parliament.tas.gov.au The FederalDistribution 2008 RedistributionCommittee for Tasmania 2ndFloor AMP Building 86 CollinsStreet HOBART TAS TOOO

Attention: Mr David Molnar

Dear Sir,

As foreshadowedin my letter to you of 28 April, I now wish to formally obiectto the Submissionscontained in Public SuggestionNo.2 and Public SuggestionNo. 16 that the nameof the Electorateof Denisonshould be changedto Inglis Clark. I havehad the honour to representthe Electorate of Denisonfor over 25 yearsin both the FederalParliament and the State Parliamentand I havenot, in that entire time, had onesingle elector ever suggestto me that the nameof the Electorateshould be changedfrom Denisonto Inglis Clark. The plain fact is that the two southernTasmanian Electoratesof Denisonand Franklin havebeen known as a team,a pair and duo for nearly a century; they havealways been spoken of together; and, the great advantageto the Australian Electoral systemof the two Electoratesbeing recognised as a team,a pair and a duo,would be utterly destroyedif oneof them were to suffer an unwarrantedname change.

Whilst I recognisethe legaland constitutionalcontributions of Andrew Inglis Clark the plain fact is that his namewas never put forward by his contemporariesto be honouredby havinga FederalElectorate named after him. Other legal and constitutionalcontributors like Barton, Parkes, Griffith and Deakin were honoured by having Federal Electoratesnamed after them - but Inglis Clark was not.

The contributionof Sir William Denisonto Tasmaniawas very great indeed. He was Governorof Van Diemen'sLand from 1846;he was Governor at the time the TasmanianParliament was formed (asPublic SuggestionNo. 16 from the Australian Labor Party concedes);he was Governor of Tasmaniawhen Tasmaniaceased to be Van Diemen'sLand and becameTasmania; he supervisedthe constructionof many major highwaysand bridges(including the famousRichmond Bridge); he oversawnumerous social reformsl and, he was regardeduniversally as a highly principledand dedicatedservant of Tasmaniaand its people.

In short,I respectfullysubmit that no casehas been put forward to remove the nameof Denisonfrom the list of FederalElectorates which have honouredthose who haverendered great serviceto our Nation. Whilst it is correctthat he was not born in Tasmania,after servingas Governorof Tasmaniafor eightyears he then went on and servedas Governorof New SouthWales for a period of six years. His serviceas Governorof both Tasmaniaand New SouthWales exceeded fourteen years - a remarkable achievement.His namehas been honoured in otherways throughout Tasmaniaand I and many othersare outragedthat latter-dayAustralian Labor Party supportersof Andrew Inglis Clark are now trying to remove the nameof Denisonfrom this famousElectorate. I repeat,I havenever had onesingle representation from any electorof Denisonin over 25 years that the nameof this Electorateshould be changedto Inglis Clark or anythingelse. I greatly respectHon JusticePeter Heerey and classhim as a closepersonal friend, but he hasnot lived in Tasmaniafor over 40 years and whilst he frequentlyvisits our Stateand he and I meetfrequently and happily I respectfullysuggest that his Honour hasnot had very much contactwith the rank and file electorsof Denisonas I do, on a daily basis in the courseof my Parliamentaryduties. I totally rejectthe unkind commentsmade by the Australian Labor Party againstSir William Denisonand I againcontend that if Andrew Inglis Clark were worthy to havea FederalElectorate named after him it would havebeen done by his contemporaries- and it was not.

I am not opposedto changeif changeis warranted,but this latter-day attempt to eulogiseInglis Clark doesnot havepublic support. Whilst the Hon DuncanKerr and his Labor Houseof Assemblycolleagues in the TasmanianParliament have put the proposalforward I notethat no Labor Senatorshave supported the movenor haveany of the Labor Membersof the LegislativeCouncil. I can assurethe Committeethat I know of no Member of the ParliamentaryLiberal Party or the Liberal Party of Australia (TasmaniaDivision) who wants to seethe namechanged and further, that any changewould be divisive,disruptive and very electorally unpopular and it shouldnot, for thosereasons, be entertained,let alone implemented.The Australian ElectoralCommission is traditionallyseen as completelyimpartial and unbiased,and I havealways believed it to be so. I firmly believethat a changeof namefrom Denisonto Inglis Clark would be seenas politicaland pro-ALP and would be highly divisiveand very damagingto the goodname of the Australian ElectoralCommission. It shouldnot be done.

Yours faithfully,

HE STY'S SHADOWATTORNEY.GENERAL FOR ATE TO TASMANIA

5 May 2008