The notion that Canberra needs more politicians might be hard to swallow, but it's a conversation some say is worth having again. The act's recent election has exposed the immense workloads of MLA and laid bare the difference in representation received by residents of the act compared to other jurisdictions.
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00:00It might not be the most impressive looking Parliamentary building in Australia, but the
00:06ACT's Legislative Assembly could be the most unique.
00:10First sitting in 1989, the Assembly combines the powers of a state government with the
00:15functions of a local council.
00:18The only jurisdiction in the country to do so, and for those elected, it can be hard
00:22to juggle.
00:23It is a heavy workload, but when you come into it, you should know that it's a heavy
00:30workload.
00:31There are some jobs that are not 9-5, this is definitely one of them.
00:36And that workload has long fuelled a debate about the size of the Assembly.
00:40It started as 17 members, before increasing in 2016 to the current number of 25.
00:47At the time, an independent review recommended a further increase to 35 members at the 2020
00:54or 2024 elections, but there's been no movement.
00:58It's time for the ACT to grow up and recognise that we actually need to put our boots on
01:04and do this job properly.
01:06Anne-Carl Lambert was part of the group tasked with conducting the review of the Assembly's
01:11size.
01:12More than a decade on, she's still steadfastly of the view there needs to be more MLAs.
01:17It's a bit like giving a politician a pay rise.
01:20No one's ever going to agree to that.
01:22So you need to pull it out of the politician's hands and make an independent decision.
01:26If you compare the ACT with Tasmania, there's a similar population, but a stark difference
01:31in political representation.
01:33The island state not only has a 35-member lower house, but a 15-member upper house.
01:38And on top of that, there are 29 local councils, with a total of 263 councillors.
01:45Despite that, concerns about the sustainability and effectiveness of the state's parliament
01:50prompted a recent increase of 10 additional politicians.
01:54The idea of increasing the size of parliament, electing it and paying more politicians is
02:00never popular.
02:02So I think it's really important that there is that broad community support.
02:07Any increase to the number of politicians here needs to be supported by two-thirds of
02:12MLAs.
02:13But Chief Minister Andrew Barr has made it clear there is no appetite for any change
02:18this parliamentary term.
02:19What may have to be foregone in order to fund more politicians, and is that what people
02:25are willing to accept?
02:28A tough sell, but it's a conversation that won't go away.