Vic: Bracks attacks oppn moves to block upper house reform

AAP General News (Australia)
08-15-2000
Vic: Bracks attacks oppn moves to block upper house reform

Victorian Premier STEVE BRACKS has attacked opposition moves to block reform of state
parliament's upper house.

The Bracks government wants to cut the terms of upper house MPs from eight years to
four years in line with the lower house, introduce proportional representation and cut
the number of upper house MPs.

But the opposition has signalled it will block the changes.

Mr BRACKS has acknowledged it'll be very difficult to get support from the opposition
for proportional representation.

But he says he can't see any reason to oppose a reduction of eight years in the upper
house to four years.

Mr BRACKS says no other MPs in Australia has an eight-year term of office.

He says his government wants to reform the upper house to make it more accountable
and a true house of review.

And he says abolition of the upper house could be one of the options considered.

AAP RTV tsc/jd/et/jn

KEYWORD: HOUSE (MELBOURNE)

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