Professor CRAVEN - I will be brief. I came to this chamber firmly intending to vote for this motion, as I had strongly supported one version of a republic. I listened to Archbishop Hollingworth's speech with considerable pain, and I find that he is right. I cannot vote for a principle of a republic without a model. If there is a model it is the ARM model, and that is a model that I cannot support. I intend to abstain from voting on that model in the next vote. Therefore, I am persuaded by Archbishop Hollingworth's speech that I must abstain from voting in this vote. I say that with considerable sadness but the logic, to me, seems compelling.

Mrs GALLUS - Since I was 15 I have wanted to see Australia as a truly independent nation and not with a head of an another country as its head of state. Today we came to this Convention in two broad camps: those of us who wanted a republic and those of us who did not. There have been accusations that the republicans were divided. But how could it have been otherwise? We all came with a goal but with different ways of getting to that goal. We have reached a solution. To some of us it is not our preferred solution; we would have preferred another. But to all of you who want a republic, do not let that stand in your way. Politics is the art of the possible. We lost our model, so let us get behind the model that did get up and make sure that Australia does become a republic.

Senator BOSWELL - Today, the question that we are invited to answer is, in principle: do we want to become a republic? But, in effect, if we answer that in the affirmative, we are clearly voting for the Australian ARM model. I want to point out to the people that we have already heard from the Leader of the Opposition, Mr Kim Beazley, that he can fix it up if it is not quite right.

We are going to be asked to vote for a model that 71 people at this Convention did not want and 74 people did want, so there is hardly conclusive evidence that there is a great majority for it. We are going to be asked to vote for a model that both the Leader of the Opposition and his former Attorney-General have told us has to be codified. We have also been told by the former Attorney-General, who is a prominent constitutional lawyer, that codification cannot really be achieved. He said that it would take 30 years and we would not even make a dent in it. But, somehow, since the former Attorney-General came to this Convention, he has had a road to Damascus conversion; he now thinks that we can codify, but he has not told us how we can do it.

Ladies and gentlemen, if we vote for this resolution, we are signing a blank cheque on behalf of Australia. I think we all ought to listen very carefully to His Grace, Archbishop Hollingworth. We should realise that what we are voting for is in principle. I ask people not to be fooled by the symbols of this, but to have a hard-hearted look at the realities.

Ms PERIS-KNEEBONE - Fellow Australians, I want to introduce my brief talk with the word `luck'. What does the word `luck' mean? Luck is when you have two dice and you roll the dice. This country was not created by luck. All Australians created this magnificent country which we are fortunate to live in. In the last five years of my life in representing our country I have been to 29 countries around the world; there is no greater country in the world than Australia.

Father Fleming said that becoming a republic is outright dangerous. A lot of people told me when I was eight years old that playing hockey was dangerous; I now have an Olympic gold medal. What are we afraid of? Do we tell our child, `Do not walk because you could fall over'? Let us let go of our mothers' hands. I urge all Australians to vote for a republic this afternoon. The way I am voting is for the way I would like to see my great-great-grandchildren live in this country - under one republic, under one country, where all Australians can get up at any time and say how they feel.

I thought to myself yesterday afternoon, `Where the hell in the world would you see such a diverse group of Australians as those who have come here today to foresee how our country should be run?' I support this model which is being put forward to us this afternoon because it gives Australians of all diversities a fair say. There is nothing wrong with our political system - I have been to 29 countries - and the way that our government is run. I have nothing else to say except that I am a proud Australian.

DEPUTY CHAIRMAN - The time has come for the question to be put:

That this Convention supports, in principle, Australia becoming a republic.

We will adopt precisely the same method that we did yesterday. You have your envelopes. You are invited to indicate with a tick or a cross whether you support the question, and then sign the voting slip.

Mr LOCKETT - I move:

That the motion not now be put.

Professor PATRICK O'BRIEN - I second the motion.

DEPUTY CHAIRMAN - Two minds of a like thought. I put the question:

That the motion not now be put.

It is narrowly lost!

Brigadier GARLAND - Have the bells stopped ringing yet?

DEPUTY CHAIRMAN - The bells have stopped ringing. Steve Vizard is here. We all welcome Patrick McNamara, the Deputy Premier of Victoria. The question then is that the Convention supports, in principle, Australia becoming a republic. Would those in favour of the motion please rise or otherwise indicate so that the tellers can collect their ballot papers.

AN INTERJECTOR - Up the republic!

AN INTERJECTOR - Right up!

DEPUTY CHAIRMAN - Interjections during the voting procedure are highly disorderly.

Delegates submitted their ballot papers.

DEPUTY CHAIRMAN - Would all those against the proposition please indicate.

Delegates submitted their ballot papers.

DEPUTY CHAIRMAN - Would all those who want to abstain please indicate.

Delegates submitted their ballot papers.

DEPUTY CHAIRMAN - The result of the vote is yes 89; no 52; abstentions 11.

DEPUTY CHAIRMAN - Order! It will be noted that that is 152 voting. Yesterday we had 151. The detailed results are as follows:

Motion: That this Convention supports, in principle, Australia becoming a republic.

Moved: The Reverend Tim Costello

Seconded: Ms Mary Delahunty

Motion put.

Delegates (89) who voted "yes":

Andrews, Kirsten

Ang, Andrea

Atkinson, Sallyanne

Axarlis, Stella

Bacon, Jim

Beattie, Peter

Beazley, Kim

Bell, Dannalee

Bolkus, Nick

Brumby, John

Bullmore, Eric

Bunnell, Ann

Carnell, Kate

(proxy - Webb, Linda)

Carr, Bob

Cassidy, Frank

Cleary, Phil

Cocchiaro, Tony

Collins, Peter

Costello, Peter

Costello, Tim

Curtis, David

Delahunty, Mary

Devine, Miranda

Djerrkura, Gatjil

Edwards, Graham

Elliot, Mike

Evans, Gareth

Faulkner, John

Fox, Lindsay

Gallop, Geoffrey

Gallus, Chris

George, Jennie

Green, Julian

Grogan, Peter

Gunter, Andrew

Haber, Ed

Handshin, Mia

Hawke, Hazel

Hewitt, Glenda

Hill, Robert

Holmes a Court, Janet

Jones, Clem

Kelly, Mary

Kennett, Jeff

(proxy - Dean, Robert)

Kilgariff, Michael

King, Poppy

Kirk, Linda

Lavarch, Michael

Li, Jason Yat-Sen

Lundy, Kate

Lynch, Helen

Mack, Ted

Machin, Wendy

McGuire, Eddie

McNamara, Pat

Milne, Christine

Moller, Carl

Moore, Catherine

Muir, David

O'Brien, Moira

O'Brien, Patrick

O'Donoghue, Lois

Olsen, John

O'Shane, Pat

Pell, George

Peris-Kneebone, Nova

Rann, Michael

Rayner, Moira

Rundle, Tony

Russo, Sarina

Sams, Peter

Schubert, Misha

Scott, Marguerite

Shaw, Jeff

Sowada, Karin

Stone, Shane

Stott Despoja, Natasha

Tannock, Peter

Teague, Baden

Thomas, Trang

Thompson, Clare

Tully, Paul

Turnbull, Malcolm

Vizard, Steve

West, Sue

Williams, Daryl

Winterton, George

Witheford, Anne

Wran, Neville

Delegates (52) who voted "no":

Anderson, John

Andrew, Neil

Andrews, Kevin

Beanland, Denver

(proxy - Carroll, F E)

Bjelke-Petersen, Florence

Blainey, Geoffrey

Bonner, Neville

Bonython, Kym

Borbidge, Rob

(proxy - FitzGerald, Tony)

Boswell, Ron

Bradley, Thomas

Castle, Michael

Chipp, Don

Court, Richard

Cowan, Hendy

Ferguson, Alan

Ferguson, Christine

Fischer, Tim

Fleming, John

Garland, Alf

Gifford, Kenneth

Hayden, Bill

Hepworth, John

Hourn, Geoff

Howard, John

James, William (Digger)

Johnston, Adam

Jones, Kerry

Killen, Jim

Kramer, Leonie

Leeser, Julian

Manetta, Victoria

McGauchie, Donald

Mitchell, David

Mitchell, Roma

Moloney, Joan

Mye, George

Newman, Jocelyn

O'Farrell, Edward

Panopoulos, Sophie

Ramsay, Jim

Rocher, Allan

Rodgers, Marylyn

Ruxton, Bruce

Sheil, Glen

Smith, David

Sutherland, Doug

Waddy, Lloyd

Webster, Alasdair

Wilcox, Vernon

Withers, Reg

Zwar, Heidi

Delegates (11) who abstained from voting:

Bartlett, Liam

Bishop, Julie

Craven, Greg

Hollingworth, Peter

Imlach, Mary

Knight, Annette

Lockett, Eric

McGarvie, Richard

Myers, Benjamin

Parbo, Arvi

Sloan, Judith

Resolution agreed to.

RESOLUTIONS GROUP

DEPUTY CHAIRMAN - The next matter is the determination of transitional and consequential issues. The document is headed `Resolutions Group: Resolutions on Consequential Matters', and has been circulated separately. It begins with headings on Timing and Circumstances of any Change, Title, and Membership of the Commonwealth of Nations. I make the point that a number of these issues have been discussed together. Whether it will prove to be necessary for us to deal with the issues absolutely independently is in the hands of the conference. They will be introduced by the Attorney-General, the Hon. Daryl Williams.

Mr WILLIAMS - On behalf of my joint rapporteur and me, I move:

That this Convention notes its earlier provisional and indicative votes and resolves as follows:

(1) Timing and Circumstances of Any Change

A.That a referendum for change to a republic or for the maintenance of the status quo be held in 1999. If the referendum is in favour of a republic, that the new republic come into effect by 1 January 2001.

B.That prior to the referendum being put to the people the Government undertake a public education program directed to the constitutional ant other issues relevant to the referendum.

(2) Title

That in the event of Australia becoming a republic, the name "Commonwealth of Australia" be retained.

(3) Membership of the Commonwealth of Nations

That in the event of Australia becoming a republic, Australia remain a member of the Commonwealth of Nations in accordance with the rules of the Commonwealth.

(4) The Preamble

In the event of Australia becoming a republic:

A.That the Constitution itself (as distinct from the Constitution Act) include a Preamble.

B.That any provisions of the Constitution Act which have continuing force should be moved into the Constitution itself and those which do not should be repealed.

C.That the Preamble to the Constitution should contain the following elements:

C1.Introductory language in the form "We the people of Australia";

C2.Reference to "Almighty God";

C3.Reference to the origins of the Constitution, and acknowledgment that the Commonwealth has evolved into an independent, democratic and sovereign nation under the Crown;

C4.Recognition of our federal system of representative democracy and responsible government;

C5.Affirmation of the rule of law;

C6.Acknowledgment of the original occupancy and custodianship of Australia by Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islanders;

C7.Recognition of Australia's cultural diversity;

C8.Affirmation of respect for our unique land and the environment;

C9.Reference to the people of Australia having agreed to re-constitute our system of government as a republic;

C10.Concluding language to the effect that "[We the people of Australia] asserting our sovereignty, commit ourselves to this Constitution";

C11.A provision allowing ongoing consideration of constitutional change.

D.That the following matters be considered for inclusion in the Preamble:

D1.Affirmation of the equality of all people before the law;

D2.Recognition of gender equality; and

D3.Recognition that Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islanders have continuing rights by virtue of their status as Australia's indigenous peoples.

E.That care should be taken to draft the Preamble in such a way that it does not have implications for the interpretation of the Constitution.

F.That Chapter 3 of the Constitution should state that the Preamble not be used to interpret the other provision of the Constitution.

(5) Oaths and Affirmations

That in the event of Australia becoming a republic:

A.The Head of State should swear or affirm an oath of allegiance and an oath of office.

B.The Convention notes that the oath [or affirmation] of allegiance might appropriately be modelled on that provided by the Australian Citizenship Act as follows:

[Under God] I pledge my loyalty to Australia and its people, whose democratic beliefs I share, whose rights and liberties I respect and whose laws I will uphold and obey.

C.The Convention notes that the oath [or affirmation] of office might appropriately be modelled on the following words:

I swear, humbly relying on the blessing of Almighty God, [or, I do solemnly and sincerely affirm and declare] that I will give my undivided loyalty to and will well and truly serve the Commonwealth of Australia and all its people according to law in the office of the President of the Commonwealth of Australia, and I will do right to all manner of people after the laws and usages of the Commonwealth of Australia without fear or favour, affection or ill will

or

I swear [or affirm] that I will be loyal to and serve Australia and all its people according to law without fear or favour.

(6) Miscellaneous Transitional and Consequential Issues

That in the event of Australia becoming a republic:

A.The Commonwealth Government and Commonwealth Parliament give consideration to the transitional and consequential matters which will need to be addressed, by way of constitutional amendment or other legislative or executive action, including:

A1.The date of commencement of the new provisions;

A2.The commencement in office of the head of state upon oath or affirmation;

A3.Provision for an acting head of state in certain circumstances;

A4.Provision for continuation of prerogative powers, privileges and immunities until otherwise provided;

A5.Provision for salary and pension;

A6.Provision for voluntary resignation;

A7.Provision for the continued use, if and where appropriate, of the term Royal, Crown or other related terms, and use of the royal insignia, by the Defence Forces or any other government body;

A8.Provision for the continued use of the term Royal, Crown or other related term, and use of royal insignia, by non-government organisations;

A9.Provision for notes and coins bearing the Queen's image to be progressively withdrawn from circulation; and

A10.Provision to ensure that any change to the term Crown land, Crown lease or other related term does not affect existing rights and entitlements to land.

B.Spent or transitory provisions of the Constitution should be removed.

(7) Qualifications of the Head of State

That in the event of Australia becoming a republic:

A.The head of state should be an Australian citizen;

B.The head of state should be eligible to vote in an election for the Senate or House of Representatives at the time of nomination;

C.The head of state should not be a member of any political party;

D.The head of state should be subject to the same disqualifications as set out in section 44 of the Constitution in relation to members of Parliament; and

E.Any future amendments to section 44 of the Constitution should also apply to the head of state.

(8) Implications for the States

A.That the Commonwealth Government and Parliament extend an invitation to State Governments and Parliaments to consider:

Al.The implications for their respective Constitutions of any proposal that Australia become a republic; and

A2.The consequences to the Federation if one or more States should decline to accept republican status.

B.That this Convention is of the view that:

B1.Any move to a republic at the Commonwealth level should not impinge on State autonomy, and that the title, role, powers, appointment and dismissal of State heads of state should continue to be determined by each State.

B2.While it is desirable that the advent of the republican government occur simultaneously in the Commonwealth and all States, not all States may wish, or be able, to move to a republic within the timeframe established by the Commonwealth. The Government and Parliament should accordingly consider whether specific provision needs to be made to enable States to retain their current constitutional arrangements.

SUPPLEMENTARY RESOLUTION

(1) Title of the head of state

That this Convention notes its earlier indicative vote and resolves that in the event of Australia becoming a republic, the title of head of state should be "president".

I indicate that, for unknown technological reasons, the supplementary resolution at the end of the motion fell out of the machinery and is on a separate piece of paper headed `Resolutions Group: Supplementary Resolution. (1) Title of the head of state'. There was an earlier provisional and indicative vote, if not a final vote, and I would suggest that the Convention is able simply to take them as a whole, subject to any contrary ruling from the chair.

The terms of the resolutions are, except in two respects, identical to the terms on which they have been previously voted. The provisions that have been altered have a line against them in the left margin. The first is in (4) The preamble, paragraph A. The substance is not changed; it is simply a shortened version. The second one is B and C in (5) on page 3. There the introductory words to the models of oath or affirmation were slightly amended to make it clear that in each case they are illustrative rather than directive. Mr Deputy Chairman, these issues have been debated at great length in the past, and I suggest the Convention will be able to deal with them relatively quickly.

Mr GARETH EVANS - I second the motion.

DEPUTY CHAIRMAN - I will go through the headings to see whether there are any questions or difficulties with them and we can take a vote on them as they come up. No. (1) Timing and Circumstances of Change; (2) Title; and (3) Membership of the Commonwealth of Nations.

Motion carried.

DEPUTY CHAIRMAN - The next is (4) the preamble, about which we talked at some length. Are there any difficulties with the preamble?

Mr RUXTON - We have a preamble that is going to take up about an A4 page in the proposed new Constitution. At present it takes about nine lines. I support what Professor Craven said yesterday. I do not believe that these extraneous issues that have been introduced into the preamble should be there.

Mr GROGAN - I simply say there has been a lot of debate on this and a lot of support. With the addition of item D3, the concerns that anyone has about the legalities should in my view fade away so that people can rightfully support these principles being there without any concerns about those issues.

Councillor BUNNELL - I stand before you as a member of local government for 10 years. I realised on the floor of the Convention the other night that the issue of local government constitutional recognition was lost. I believe it was lost for various reasons, some procedural. I would like it stated in Hansard that I believe the constitutional recognition of the issue of local government should go forward. I realise it is not in the preamble.

Dame LEONIE KRAMER - I simply want to remark that this is very far from being a preamble. It is more like a compendium or a wish list. I know it is too late for me to say this, in a sense, but I want to register the view that the whole philosophy behind this is mistaken.

Mr ANDREWS - On a minor typographical matter: in item F the word `provision' should read `provisions'.

DEPUTY CHAIRMAN - Yes, that is an obvious typo. We will fix that up.

Dr CLEM JONES - I want to strongly support Councillor Bunnell. Local government in Australia has long had tremendous responsibilities but no representation. I commend to all delegates that in the long term in some way local government has to be given recognition in our Constitution.

Ms ANDREWS - I rise to support the various aspects of the preamble that we have here. I think we have worked extremely hard over the last 10 days to ensure that we identify what it is we have in common rather than what we have that divides us. This new preamble to the Constitution ensures that we will be able to recognise Australia as it is today, and I urge you to support that.

Brigadier GARLAND - It seems to me that we have a bit of a nonsense here and what we are likely to see is a Constitution that will be as big as the Tax Act. These matters are all very important but to include them in the preamble means that nobody will take any notice because they will refer to F which states:

That Chapter 3 of the Constitution should state that the Preamble not be used to interpret the other provisions of the Constitution.

The only thing that is missed out of this particular list is: `I love my mother.'

Mr SUTHERLAND - I again wish to revisit the question of the recognition of local government. I think it failed primarily because the drafters just simply put up `recognition of local government' without including the word `democratic'. What we have to acknowledge is that at the time of Federation local government was not included in the Constitution because it largely did not exist in a form of democratic local government.

It is tragic that, nationally through our Constitution, we do not express a desire, a wish and a will that there be a democratic system of local government guaranteeing territorial spread of community representative government across the nation. If it is democratic, it means it guards against the system of the arbitrary dismissal of councils which, from my experience of nearly 40 years in local government, was largely done for political reasons. If there is a council removed or dismissed, it should be the same as it is in state and federal governments. There should immediately be arrangements for a fresh election. Sadly, in the state of New South Wales in Sydney, we have had an instance of the dismissal of an appointed council, Randwick City Council, and administrators were in there for nearly five years which spread across both political parties and governments.

DEPUTY CHAIRMAN - I hesitate to interrupt but, if you want to move an amendment and there are more than 10 supporters for it, you can do it.

Mr GARETH EVANS - Not `more than 10'; it has to be with leave of the Convention.

DEPUTY CHAIRMAN - I am sorry, with leave of the Convention. But I do not think we can have a substantive debate on local government unless somebody wants to move an amendment.

Mr GARETH EVANS - Don't encourage them.

DEPUTY CHAIRMAN - I am not encouraging them, Delegate Evans, but it is just as well for them to be aware of their rights.

Mr WILCOX - I only wish to repeat something that I have said before, and that is the warning about putting words into even preambles. It is sometimes thought that preambles do not matter but, as I said recently, the courts will take absolutely anything into consideration today, and there is no shortage of litigants to see that they have the opportunity to do so.

Whilst I support almost all of what is proposed as set out in the preamble, where we are asking to have the following elements contain something about them, you get all sorts of difficulties. That goes on to not only C, but D. I will just pick out a couple. There is the environment, which is as long as a piece of string, and gender equality which is even longer than a piece of string.

I conclude my remarks here by going on to E which says, very wisely - and this will cause great problems for the government and the parliamentary draftsmen - that care should be taken to draft the preamble in such a way that it does not have implications for the interpretation of the Constitution. The way the High Court today wants to get into the areas of the legislatures, you will have to be pretty good to stop them, but beware.

DEPUTY CHAIRMAN - I take it you will be available for consultation.

Mr WILCOX - At about the sort of fees that James Killen was going to charge to mediate between the republicans.

Ms HOLMES a COURT - Like Kirsten Andrews, I am in favour of the essence and the philosophy of this. I would like to ask my friend, Mr Williams, the Attorney-General if, after his people have had a go at this, can we please send it off to some of our poets and writers? We need the smell of eucalyptus in this and the feel of red dust. We need to have the feel of swimming in the Australian sea, and all those things that make us feel so passionate about this country and love it so much.

Dr GALLOP - What about eating beef?

Ms HOLMES a COURT - Eating beef and no feral cats. I believe we can now do something wonderful with this preamble.

Ms RAYNER - I came to this Convention hoping for a discussion, a debate, and the working out of a new vision for Australia. Along with my fellow delegate, Tim Costello, I endorse the result of this Convention, because Australia will finally get an Australian as a president, and we have talked about the sorts of relationships that citizens should have with their government. But I am deeply disappointed at the pragmatic, prosaic and business-like way in which we have avoided making any commitment to the people of Australia, even in this preamble.

What we have is a preamble which is a list of instructions to the parliamentary draftsperson. And that list of instructions, even as cursory as it is, is still attacked by those who would wish to see the Constitution, developed more than a century ago, etched in concrete forever. Though we have references to very important matters, we have managed to fudge in paragraph D: our commitment to affirmation of the equality of all people before the law; to recognition that women and men are equal; and even to any sort of recognition that Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islanders have continuing rights by virtue of their status as Australia's indigenous peoples.

We have simply left that for consideration, rather than saying we were committed to it. This is despite the fact that, after much debate and two defeated motions on the floor, we finally wimped out completely and said in paragraph F that chapter 3 of the Constitution should say that our preamble must not be used to interpret the other provisions of the Constitution. Even if we refer this preamble to our poets - Les Murray for example - for the pong of eucalyptus oil, we will still have, at the end of this brilliant, lyrical ode to the quality of Australian character, a statesmanlike phrase that `the above is inapplicable in terms of our statutory rights and responsibilities'. How bloody stupid!

DEPUTY CHAIRMAN - Don't use that language in the Convention.

Ms RAYNER - I withdraw the word `bloody'. I agree with you. That was unparliamentary language and I apologise to delegates too, but it expresses the frustration I feel that the issues I came here to debate were taken off the agenda on the first day.

Mr RUXTON - I was very offended.

Ms RAYNER - Mr Ruxton, please restrain yourself.

DEPUTY CHAIRMAN - Mr Ruxton, please contain yourself. You are not helping the deliberations.

Ms RAYNER - I believe this Constitution of ours should have a preamble. I am glad that we have at least got a list. But I wish the people of Australia to know that we have missed an opportunity to inspire this new republic of ours with a spirit of equality and fairness.

Ms DELAHUNTY - I rise to support this without the pessimism of my fellow Victorian delegate Moira Rayner. I also came to this Convention imbued with a tremendous sense of possibility, Moira, as you know, for what we could do here together. Some of the possibility has been dimmed, and the preamble is one area where I feel disappointment; however, this Convention has been about the art of compromise, about crafting what we can give to the Australian people.

I stand here to support this today because we have before us dot points that say what has been silent in our Constitution up until now: affirmation of the rule of law; recognition of Australia's cultural diversity; recognition of gender equality; recognition that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders have continuing rights by virtue of their status as Australia's indigenous people and so on. It is true that what we have created in this list of principles is, if you like, a constitutional White Pages, but it is certainly substantially superior to what exists in the Constitution now. I urge you to support it.

Ms THOMPSON - The subject of the preamble was high in the minds of most of the delegates at the Women's Convention two weeks ago. I do not think the people who were there were any different in that than most of the people who are here and most Australians. The idea of the preamble is to give us a vision, something which we can stand up and say what we believe in. Imperfect as this list may be, imperfect as the drafting instructions may be, this is our unity document, this is our chance to come together and say, `We believe these things are true.' Please support the preamble.

DEPUTY CHAIRMAN - I now put section (4), the preamble. Would those in favour please indicate.

Mr BULLMORE - Can we put E and F of section (4) separately?

DEPUTY CHAIRMAN - I do not think so at this stage. There would have to be a motion from the floor, and we have now concluded the debate, so I do not think it would be proper to put an amendment at this stage.

Dr CLEM JONES - On a procedural point, can we take A to F seriatim? There are a number of things in here that I disagree with. I strongly want to vote for D, and I do not think it fair, with the complexity of the issues that have been listed before us, that we should be asked to vote for them as a whole.

DEPUTY CHAIRMAN - I am in the hands of the Convention, but nobody has proposed a procedural motion up until now. I said to Mr Bullmore that I thought it was too late. We have started the voting procedure.

Dr CLEM JONES - I was on my feet -

DEPUTY CHAIRMAN - I had already ruled against Mr Bullmore. I put the question that we treat section (4) as a whole.

Motion carried.

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