CONFIDENTIAL
BACKGROUND NOTE
1.
He is
Mr Canavan is a member of the Hong Kong Parliamentary group and frequently asks questions on all aspects of Hong Kong. particularly interested in the development of representative government in Hong Kong.
2. Mr Canavan may have been prompted to ask this question by a letter he received from the Chairman of the Joint Conference on the
Green Paper, arguing that 20% of the members of the Legislative Council should be directly elected by 1988. Mr Canavan has
corresponded on this with Mr Luce.
3. During the debate on Hong Kong on 5 December, Mr Canavan said that the White Paper on representative government was "too little, too late". The proposals were "far too pussy-footed". He also criticised the functional constituencies as being unnecessarily divisive since they might reinforce existing or potential divisions in society. He also pointed out that the White Paper contained no
proposals for elections, either direct or indirect, to the Executive
Council in 1985.
4. On 21 November, the Hong Kong Government published a White Paper on development of further representative government in Hong Kong. This takes into account public comment on the proposals of the Green Paper which was published on 18 July. Public reaction was generally in favour of the aims of the Green Paper and the gradual and progressive nature of the proposals made in it. Whilst most people favoured the idea of direct elections, very few wanted them in the
immediate future. The White Paper, which sets out the Hong Kong Government's intentions for the 1985 elections, does not provide for direct elections to the Legislative Council but for indirect
elections through an electoral college and functional
constituencies. The White Paper does however state that further
consideration will be given to the question of direct elections in
the review of progress towards representative government which will
take place in 1987.
CONFIDENTIAL