First, consider this. The ACT Greens/Labor government has introduced legislation to increase the age of criminal responsibility to 14, and is also considering allowing children as young as 14 to be euthanised. How can a child of 13 years, one day shy of their 14th birthday, be held to not know right from wrong, and thus not be able to be prosecuted; but if one day older, can consent to be killed by euthanasia?
As well, the Greens also want to lower the voting age to 16. How can a young person, only two years and one day after being deemed too young to know the difference between right and wrong, be suddenly, at 16, mature enough to vote – the most valued right we have as adult citizens? If the voting age is lowered to 16, then that would logically mean the age a person can be imprisoned in an adult jail would drop to 16, as would the age one could get a car licence, or join the ADF and go to war. Young people have not fully developed physically at 16, nor have their brains fully developed. This is clearly a pathetic attempt by the Greens to get extra votes from gullible 16-year-olds.
Recently, the ACT government abandoned an uncompleted project to introduce a new human resources computer program after spending nearly $76 million on it. A review found the project was deficient from the start, an outcome minister Chis Steel said was “disappointing”. Now an upgrade of the existing system, which the government says was discounted as an option too early, will cost at least another $17 million. Even The Canberra Times was concerned enough to suggest the minister should resign. This, of course, will not happen. Why should it?
The government is as rock solid as a government can get, and believes, sadly, quite rightly in my view, that it can do whatever it likes and still be re-elected. This unfortunate situation reminded me of the good old days in the 1990s when the Assembly consisted of true cross-benchers who held the balance of power. Sport and Racing Minister Wayne Berry (Yvette Berry’s dad) had a no confidence motion upheld against him for misleading the Assembly in relation to a relatively minor racing matter, and former Chief Minister Kate Carnell lost her job over a transfer of money issue concerning Bruce Stadium. Both transgressions pale into insignificance compared to this current fiasco, and any sums of money involved were minor by comparison.
If the community cares at all for good governance, they need to change the government (which, in my view, is unlikely). The Liberal Party under Elizabeth Lee deserves a go, but as they will never form a majority government, good independents need to be elected. So far, only one has put his hand up: the Belco Party’s candidate for Yerrabi, ex-AFP Detective Senior Sergeant Jason Taylor. Hopefully, some more good candidates will step forward soon, and even the complacent ACT electorate will start to realise that it’s time for a change. Otherwise, the current lot will continue to do as they wish.
Editor’s note: Bill Stefaniak founded the Belco Party in 2020.
