THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 1994
GOVERNOR:
I CAN'T SOLVE, UNILATERALLY, THE QUESTION OF HOW WE SECURE A THROUGH-TRAIN. I THINK THAT THE COUNCIL WILL SEE FROM THE WHITE PAPER THAT UNFORTUNATELY, WE WERE NOT ABLE TO SECURE CHINESE AGREEMENT TO A THROUGH-TRAIN DURING 17 ROUNDS OF TALKS, THOUGH WE
TRIED, I THINK IMAGINATIVELY AND SENSIBLY, TO DO SO WITH THE PROPOSALS WE PUT ABOUT OATHS AND ABOUT OTHER MATTERS. BUT LET ME JUST DEAL BRIEFLY WITH THE QUESTION OF WHAT HAPPENS IN 1997. I CHOOSE MY WORDS CAREFULLY; THEY DON'T IN ANY WAY REFLECT ON CHINESE SOVEREIGNTY THEY DON'T IN ANY WAY CHANGE THE HISTORIC FACT OF THE 30TH JUNE AND 1ST JULY 1997, BUT I DON'T BELIEVE THERE IS ANY 'REASON' I STRESS THAT WORD I DON'T BELIEVE THERE IS ANY 'REASON' WHY CHINA SHOULD SEEK TO OVERTURN ARRANGEMENTS IN 1997 WHICH ARE ENTIRELY IN COMPLIANCE WITH THE JOINT DECLARATION AND THE BASIC LAW. THE ASSERTION THAT THEY ARE NOT, HAS BEEN MADE ON A NUMBER OF OCCASIONS BUT THE ASSERTION HAS BEEN MADE MORE FREQUENTLY THAN ANY EVIDENCE HAS EVER BEEN ADDUCED. IT GOES ON BEING SAID BUT NOBODY EVER DEMONSTRATES HOW IT HAPPENS TO BE THE CASE.
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AND I SAY ONE OTHER THING AS WELL, USING SINCE I NOTICED THAT METAPHORS WERE FROM THE BEGINNING OF DEBATE YESTERDAY, IN MUCH EVIDENCE IN THE CHAMBER USING A METAPHOR TO MAKE THE POINT, IF MY NEXT DOOR NEIGHBOUR SAYS THAT IN THREE-AND-A-HALF YEARS HE IS GOING TO COME ROUND TO MY HOUSE AND BREAK ALL THE WINDOWS, THAT DOESN'T SEEM TO ME TO BE A VERY PERSUASIVE ARGUMENT FOR ME BREAKING ALL THE WINDOWS THIS AFTERNOON.
MRS ELSIE TU: MR PRESIDENT MAY I ASK THE GOVERNOR THROUGH YOU SOMETHING THAT HAS BEEN PUZZLING ME FOR A LONG TIME THE PROPOSED POLITICAL PACKAGE IS ALWAYS REFERRED TO AS BEING DEMOCRATIC CAN THE GOVERNOR EXPLAIN TO ME HOW IT IS DEMOCRATIC TO GIVE TWO VOTES TO EVERY PERSON WHO WORKS IN THE WORKPLACE BUT ONLY ONE VOTE TO THOSE WHO WORK IN OTHER PLACES SUCH AS HOUSEWIVES OR ELDERLY PERSONS RETIRED AND STUDENTS, ADULT STUDENTS, I FIND IT VERY DIFFICULT TO UNDERSTAND HOW IT IS DEMOCRATIC IT MEANS THAT THE ONES WHO ARE NOT WORKING IN A WORKPLACE ARE ONLY HALF A PERSON.
THE GOVERNOR: WELL I AM SURE THE HONOURABLE LADY WHOSE VIGOROUS ELOQUENCE I SALUTE AS THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL HAS I AM SURE THAT THE HONOURABLE LADY WOULDN'T WANT ME TO TAKE THAT ARGUMENT TO ITS CONCLUSION, BECAUSE THE CONCLUSION OF THE ARGUMENT IS THE PROPOSALS THAT ARE BEING PUT FORWARD IN THE BILL THAT WILL BE PUBLISHED TOMORROW ARE A GREAT DEAL MORE DEMOCRATIC THAN THE PRESENT SYSTEM, UNDER THE PRESENT SYSTEM AND PERHAPS THE HONOURABLE LADY WISHES TO ARGUE THE CASE AGAINST FUNCTIONAL CONSTITUENCIES PERHAPS THAT IS HER ARGUMENT UNDER THE PRESENT SYSTEM ONLY A FEW PEOPLE HAVE TWO VOTES BECAUSE OF FUNCTIONAL CONSTITUENCIES AND GEOGRAPHICAL CONSTITUENCIES OF COURSE SOME HAVE A LOT MORE THAN TWO VOTES, SOME BECAUSE OF CORPORATE VOTING IN CONSTITUENCIES HAVE OH VOTES INTO DOUBLE FIGURES, AND THAT IS A SITUATION WE ARE ANXIOUS TO ELIMINATE WITH THE INTRODUCTION OF INDIVIDUAL RATHER THAN CORPORATE VOTING. IT'S PERFECTLY TRUE BECAUSE NOT EVERYBODY IS AT WORK THE EXTENSION OF VOTES AS WE PROPOSED IN THE NINE NEW FUNCTIONAL CONSTITUENCIES DOESN'T MEAN EVERYBODY IN THE COMMUNITY HAS TWO VOTES, BUT THAT IS BECAUSE OF NATURE OF FUNCTIONAL CONSTITUENCIES AND I WOULD NOT WANT TO CHALLENGE THE BASIC LAW IN HAVING THE NUMBER OF FUNCTIONAL CONSTITUENCIES OF 30 WHICH ARE PROPOSED FOR 95 THROUGH TO 99.
THAT HAVE
THAT
THE
/MRS ELSTE