TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS THE HONOURABLE JAMES BURCHETT QC MR IAN CAMPBELL MR DAVID FARRELL MR WARWICK WATKINS MR BOB SENDT PUBLIC INQUIRY INTO OBJECTIONS AGAINST THE PROPOSED REDISTRIBUTION OF FEDERAL ELECTORAL BOUNDARIES OF NEW SOUTH WALES 80 WILLIAM STREET, SYDNEY 9.07A.M., THURSDAY, 24 AUGUST 2006 Hearing continuing PN1 MR BURCHETT: Before we commence, I think I should make a brief explanation partly directed to the way we will proceed, which everyone will need to know, and partly directed to anyone who is not an expert or not fully aware of the details of electoral administration in Australia. Under the Commonwealth electoral law, there is an electoral commissioner who is Mr Ian Campbell, on my right, to administer the department dealing with electoral matters. There is also an Electoral Commission to determine electoral questions, and to do so at an independent level, holding the scales evenly. PN2 It consists of three members; one, a chairperson who must be a Federal Court judge or former judge of that court chosen from three persons nominated by the Chief Justice of the Federal Court. I am presently the chairperson and my name is James Burchett. The electoral commissioner is also a member of the Electoral Commission. The third member is presently the Australian Statistician, Mr Dennis Trewin. He unfortunately cannot be here in person because of illness, but he is listening in on the telephone so he is really taking part in this meeting. When a redistribution is required in any state, as it is now in New South Wales because population statistics demand there be one less division in this state than before, while Queensland has gained one, the legislation provides for a committee to work out a proposal. PN3 The committee consists of the Electoral Commissioner, the Chief Commonwealth Electoral officer for the state, Mr David Farrell who is second on my right, and two New South Wales officials, Mr Warwick Watkins, the Surveyor General, who is on my left, and Mr Bob Sendt, the Auditor General, further to my left. What has happened so far is that the committee has made a proposal, which selects, for reasons the committee explains, the seat of Gwydir is the one to be abolished to make way for the reduction of one that is required. It makes a number of consequential and other changes, which it sees to be required by population movements. The procedure allows people and organisations to object, and many have as most of you know. The legislation then provides that the objections must be considered by a body called the augmented Electoral Commission. PN4 The augmented Commission consists of course, first of all, of the three members of the Australian Electoral Commission, and they are augmented by the other persons who are on the committee. We are empowered to hold an inquiry, and that is happening today. There is limited time, not from our choice, but the Act lays down a strict timetable, which must be adhered to. The augmented Commission - am I not being heard clearly at the back? I'm sorry about that. Does this amplify at all? PN5 UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: No. PN6 MR BURCHETT: I assumed it was amplifying. Only for recording, is it? I was saying that there is limited time for the inquiry, not of our choice, but by reason that the Act lays down a strict timetable. The augmented Commission has been studying the written objections and comments that have been received, but some 18 people have accepted the opportunity to address us on the problems that they have, in most cases, already raised by objection. Not all will, I expect, be covering every issue. Thank you. Probably you can hear us more easily, Dennis, than some of the people in the room. PN7 MR TREWIN: I can certainly hear you, Jim. PN8 MR BURCHETT: Thank you. PN9 MR BALDWIN: Chairman and Commissioners, my name is Robert Charles Baldwin, I am the Member for Paterson. Today I wish to discuss the electorate of Paterson and I suppose by way of inclusion, my adjoining seats of the seat of Hunter and the seat of Newcastle. When I originally read the proposed amendments, and there was a statement in that proposal by the Commission in dividing up the boundaries, that Raymond Terrace had a community of interest with Newcastle. I would submit to you respectfully that there is very little connection between the township of Raymond Terrace in the Port Stephens Local Government Area, and indeed that of Newcastle. PN10 First and foremost and by way of submission, I have here for you for later perusal a series of maps that show the major roads in my electorate and the major towns in my electorate and I quite simply went to a website called Whereis run by Telstra's subsidiary. I would type in a township such as Hawks Nest through to Newcastle, and the route that it gives is down Pacific Highway right through Raymond Terrace and then down through Tomago and out to Newcastle. If I type Gloucester, it's the same thing; it comes down Bucketts Way through the township of Stroud, out onto the Pacific Highway, but importantly, through Raymond Terrace on the way to Newcastle. If I typed in Dungog, these maps show that it comes down Seaham Road, right through the township of Raymond Terrace and then through to Newcastle. PN11 Indeed, pretty much every town including ….. shows a trafficable route through the township of Raymond Terrace. I would respectfully submit to you that the township of Raymond Terrace, being one of the largest population districts in my current electorate, is actually the central hub. Even though it's geographically located right down in the southern end of the electorate, it's the geographical hub for transportation though my electorate. In servicing the communities, whether the people are coming through Nelson Bay, the transport facilities that are provided, and I would remind the Commission that there is no public transport, no state-owned public transport, in the electorate of Paterson save for parts of the far western side, which are in the Maitland LGA, or indeed, the soon to be removed areas of the Newcastle LGA of Tarro and Beresfield where you have a train line, the reality is that through Port Stephens in particular, there is no state-owned public transport system. PN12 Indeed, it's all private coaches. Can I also respectfully put to the Commission that the transport links, to go to Newcastle, all hub through Raymond Terrace. If you want to go via bus from any of those areas to visit anywhere in Newcastle, you actually use an interchange at Raymond Terrace. I would also put to you that this is not about a voting benefit to me, as indeed the boundaries as put forward by you as against the boundary submission put forward by the Liberal Party actually changes the net effect of a two-party preferred vote by around 0.2, 0.3 per cent. So this is not a plea to you to protect the patch based on personal interest or vote. Later on today, you'll hear from the Mayor of Port Stephens Local Government Area and he will put the argument which I support that Port Stephens LGA should remain as one consistent body. PN13 There are difficulties at the moment in that the state electorate of Port Stephens and Maitland divide Raymond Terrace into two, and it makes it very difficult for a local government to work with two bodies, let alone with one body. In fact, let alone two individual Members in pursuing objectives for their communities. Can I also put to you that outlying from Raymond Terrace is also Williamtown RAAF Base. Williamtown RAAF Base is a major issue in the electorate of Paterson. Indeed, the aircraft noise that emanates from Paterson affects many of the areas through Medowie, through Tanilba Bay, up through to Nerong and Stroud. By separating Williamtown RAAF Base and Raymond Terrace from Paterson into Newcastle, then you will have two people dealing with the issue of aircraft noise. PN14 There has been established a consultative committee at Williamtown to address aircraft noise and this is made up of state government, federal government agencies, local government and the whole idea is to bring the community of interest together surrounding aircraft noise generated by Williamtown RAAF Base under one banner so that problems can be addressed by the community as a whole. In separating Raymond Terrace, Williamtown, from the electorate of Paterson, we then divide the issues. We divide the communities of interest and we make it much harder for any elected representative to be a representative of an issue on the whole or a community on the whole, rather than be split in two. PN15 Can I also respectfully put to you that in the separation of Raymond Terrace out of Paterson into Newcastle, there is postcode 2324, which is the postcode for Raymond Terrace, and indeed, it's also the postcode for Karuah. Karuah will be excised from the Raymond Terrace area by the division lines submitted by you. But to let you understand the community of interest in that, the federal government proposed and has delivered a program called Communities for Children. It's a some $2m program based on the children of the postcode 2324, the 0 to 5 year olds. That program has been equally rolled out by the federal government with the support of local and state government agencies for the children of the postcode 2324. PN16 So by having an imaginary line, which divides Paterson and Newcastle, splits Raymond Terrace and Karuah, we're now splitting the effort between that interest.