Strong doubts about the survival of the NT Government under the Gerry Wood brokered supposed entente cordiale have been expressed by Professor Brian Costar of Swinburne University, Victoria, a regular commentator on politics and democracy.
Appearing on the ABC NT Stateline TV report , Professor Costar firmly stated he could see the government “ending in tears “ a long time before the next election , due in three years. Furthermore, he described the five member Territory Council of Cooperation (TCC) as an extraordinary organisation , unknown in constitutional politics, a cross between what seemed to be a parallel cabinet and a quasi Upper House . “How it is going to function,is anybody’s guess,” Professor Costar remarked.
Stateline presenter Melinda James asked if he thought the agreement signed by Chief Minister Paul Henderson and Independent Gerry Wood , setting up the TCC, with a long list of demands , would lead to stability and be good for democracy in the NT. The answer was clear and unequivocal . No. He pointed out the exact role of the TCC was not yet known ; it would have to receive some legislative validity to exist . Would it be advisory , make decisions - all sorts of things had to be sorted out. The notion of having two Labor , two CLP and an independent on the TCC meant either one of two things would happen. The two major parties would split along partisan lines , meaning the independent would be on his own , or the two major parties could gang up on the independent and make him angry, which would lead to less than stable government.
Appearing on the ABC NT Stateline TV report , Professor Costar firmly stated he could see the government “ending in tears “ a long time before the next election , due in three years. Furthermore, he described the five member Territory Council of Cooperation (TCC) as an extraordinary organisation , unknown in constitutional politics, a cross between what seemed to be a parallel cabinet and a quasi Upper House . “How it is going to function,is anybody’s guess,” Professor Costar remarked.
Stateline presenter Melinda James asked if he thought the agreement signed by Chief Minister Paul Henderson and Independent Gerry Wood , setting up the TCC, with a long list of demands , would lead to stability and be good for democracy in the NT. The answer was clear and unequivocal . No. He pointed out the exact role of the TCC was not yet known ; it would have to receive some legislative validity to exist . Would it be advisory , make decisions - all sorts of things had to be sorted out. The notion of having two Labor , two CLP and an independent on the TCC meant either one of two things would happen. The two major parties would split along partisan lines , meaning the independent would be on his own , or the two major parties could gang up on the independent and make him angry, which would lead to less than stable government.
Not all members of the ALP caucus, he surmised, would be pleased about the fact that their power to choose their leader had been taken away from them . Mr Wood , he continued, had come out of the deal very well, to give him credit , but at what cost to the ALP caucus?
If the TCC had concentrated on better government, better parliamentary democracy, more accountabity , it would have been good for the Territory. But due to it being so policy heavy, he could not see it lasting through the term “ I can see situations where the government is not going to be able to fulfil those policies .”Professor Costar said there had been a number of charters drawn up with government stuggling to survive, but none were like the one signed by Wood and Chief Minister.
The worst arrangements had been the l980s Green-Labor accord in Tasmania , followed by the Liberal –Green accord , and both had collapsed , leading to acrimony. In Tasmania the contract with Greens and Labor and Liberals failed because the government could not meet the unrealistic policy objectives written into the agreementS. Labor and Liberal had then combined to try and keep out Greens and independents, but this had failed.
The reason why the Tasmanian charters had collapsed was because they were policy prescriptive, like the agreement drawn up between Wood and the NT Government. The agreements that survived in the l990s and this century-NSW ,Victoria and SA- concentrated on accountability . The ones that failed were like the NT one -full of policy ambitions,seemingly policies dear to Mr Wood’s heart ,with all the obligation on the government. Mr Wood only had to vote for supply and not support any no confidence motions against the government, a light work load compared with what the government had to do under the contract.
