The Day the Aliens Came Book Launch
Mr Bill Hornadge

Mrs DAWN FARDELL (Dubbo) [2.22 p.m.]: On Monday 5 May 2008 I was honoured to be invited to launch the recent publication of Mr Bill Hornadge, a well-known and respected author who resides in Dubbo. Mr Hornadge's latest work is a science fiction story titled The Day the Aliens Came. The event was held at the Dubbo Macquarie Regional Library and speakers were the master or ceremonies, David Pankhurst, who is the owner of the Book Connection, Mr Hornadge, John Bayliss, who is the director of Dubbo City Council library services, and me. Friends of literature and Mr Hornadge also were in attendance. The Day the Aliens Came is an unusual science fiction story told in two parts. The first part of the story is set in the year 2015, when a smallish bunch of aliens, in dire distress and nearly dying, land at the Dubbo Airport with the sole aim of imparting their unique knowledge of the universe to the scientists of Australia before they expire on their final trip to the sun.

[Interruption]

I apologise for digressing: This story strikes a chord. I would appreciate the member for Tamworth temporarily leaving the Chamber. While I admit that I am not a science fiction fan, I found the first part very entertaining and amusing. The second part of the story is set 20 years later in 2035, when the earth is embroiled in all sorts of difficulties as a result of global warming and when a huge army of the same aliens invades the earth. Chapter 7, "The Final Killer Blow", would appeal to members of this Parliament and also to our constituents. Mr Hornadge again clearly defined his views on politics in this chapter, as he did with a previous publication Questions We Should Ask. I cite the book, How to Improve Your Parliamentary Systems, in which he champions step one: vive la difference. Mr Hornadge and his aliens believe the real problem with all the earth's parliamentary systems is that they are completely male orientated and governed—a hangover from the good old days of the nineteenth century.

More than half the population of most countries is female, yet even in an open country such as Australia only approximately 20 per cent of politicians in State and Federal Parliament are females. Even though a majority of the laws enacted in Parliaments are of vital concern to women, they are planned and implemented by males. Women think and act differently from men and could bring a strong sense of fair play if they had power. But, because all the power is presently in the hands of males, breeding females will not try out for Parliament because they know the entrenched males will block their progress. Mr Hornadge and his aliens believe the solution is that all Parliaments should at all times have fifty-fifty representation of men and women. At this point I pause to say that I will strangle the member for Tamworth when I leave the Chamber!

Mr Hornadge and his aliens believe fifty-fifty Parliaments could be achieved easily if at each election voters were given two ballot papers: one for female candidates and one for male candidates. To prevent overcrowded Parliaments, electorates would need to be amalgamated. I have to say that if my electorate were to be amalgamated with an electorate nearby and I was the female candidate, I would prefer my co-representative of the electorate to be the member for Murray-Darling rather than the member for Barwon. Parties could select their leaders as they do presently, but it would be compulsory to have fifty-fifty Cabinets, and Speakers would be elected for one year only—I do not think our present Speaker would like that—with a female then a male holding the position each alternate year. The result of those changes would be that Parliaments would be civilised, due to the feminine presence.

There are many other reforms that Mr Hornadge has written about, such as members' terms in Parliament being limited to 16 years, the scrapping of huge amounts of money to provide for their retirement, and no public money being paid for political purposes. He says that by applying such restrictions more people of merit would come forward to give their services for shorter periods, rather than having lengthy careers while continually holding well-paid political office. He would strip the political parties of much of the power they have presently, which has a damaging effect on the whole parliamentary system. He also feels that there is no useful purpose in having upper Houses, such as the Senate, which still operate in State Parliaments. These seem to be relics of former ages that could be discarded without doing any damage to our democracy.

Mr Daryl Maguire: So the Speaker should have a change of sex every year?

Mrs DAWN FARDELL: No, the aliens say that. Mr Hornadge is an exceptional man, who was previously employed by the Sydney Morning Herald, is a former editor of the Daily Liberal, the owner of Seven Seas Stamps, and a noted author. As I mentioned at the book launch, this sprightly 80-year-old has many more stories to tell. He has written many publications, including The Australian Slanguage, The Ugly Australian, Lennie Lower: He Made a Nation Laugh, The Hidden History of Australia, The Search for an Australian Paradise, The Journal of John O'Brien, The Poppy Crop, which is fiction, Cricket in Australia and Questions We Should Ask. I look forward to many more publications from this wonderful man—and I apologise to him for the behaviour of the member for Tamworth.