Page 1015 - Week 06 - Wednesday, 26 July 1989
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As Mr Collaery rightly points out, to tack on this amendment to what is a quite straightforward and routine Bill is really to make policy on the run and does less than justice to what I believe the Liberal Party would feel is an important issue. We cannot deal with it at this late stage, with no notice and with a totally uninformed debate. That is outrageous. I do not agree with the issue, but I think that it deserves an informed debate, and it is only right that we should have that. We cannot do that at the moment.
Mr Speaker, I turn to the Bill which is the primary subject of this debate. We are proposing a fairly routine set of provisions here which would bring the ACT into line with the States and the Northern Territory in making amendments to their legislation so that the Commonwealth film censor will set, by determination, the requirements for markings on film and film advertising in the ACT, in place of the present system under which requirements are actually stated in legislation.
It is my contention that the chief censor is the appropriate person to make this determination, in view of the fact that it is still a Commonwealth responsibility to classify films. So I think that we should be able to deal with that fairly routine administrative amendment to a Bill without too much agonising over it this evening. The wider question which Mr Stefaniak's amendment seeks to raise would be far better dealt with in an informed debate when members are aware of what the issues are and have had time to formulate their views, and when we can conduct a rational debate in the light of some factual information rather than just knee-jerk reactions.
Amendment negatived.
Original question resolved in the affirmative.
Bill agreed to in principle.
Leave granted to dispense with the detail stage.
Bill agreed to.
ADJOURNMENT
Motion (by Mr Whalan) proposed:
That the Assembly do now adjourn.
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