Page 1318 - Week 07 - Thursday, 24 August 1989
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
the people who made submissions to them, which sought to water down the draconian aspects of that legislation. I think it is a measure of what can be achieved by public action on matters of importance. It also might be an education for other political parties in this place in what public opinion really is. I will not go into that in any more detail, because of the obvious response that one might get in the future, because of a nervousness about grassroots politics.
I repeat what I said earlier in relation to the involvement of the community in this legislation. I think that the most important facet of the debate was that part of it in which the community sought to involve itself, and, as I said earlier, to water down the draconian aspects of the legislation as it was first presented to this place.
MR JENSEN (11.24): Mr Speaker, as a Tuggeranong resident and former member of the Tuggeranong Community Council, I am aware of the strong feeling in the valley that more powers are necessary to help reduce the level of, and potential for, street crime. However, I also believe that this feeling is not confined, of course, to Tuggeranong, and that much of middle Canberra is concerned to see the police being given the power to make the streets safer. The recent newspaper polls, if we believe newspaper polls, of course, show that clearly.
The real issue, however, is achieving a balance between the community's desire to preserve its sense of physical safety and also preserve civil liberties. In my closing remarks I will refer to a couple of factors in my own family to show how this matter may be difficult to resolve but can be resolved. The Rally is now happy that this balance can be maintained and is prepared to vote in favour of the Bill as it is to be amended.
However, once again I support the comments of my colleagues, Mr Collaery and Mr Moore, in relation to the need to keep a watching brief on the way that this particular Bill is put into place. I would suggest, Mr Speaker, that it is important that the two-year sunset clause that was put into the Bill is quite appropriate in this particular case, and I will come to the reasons why a little later on.
I think it is important that it is not, and never was, the proposal of the Residents Rally, as the Leader of the Liberal Party, Mr Kaine, has indicated, to sit and watch in some dictatorial fashion the way this particular Bill was going to be implemented by the police. That is clearly a ridiculous statement and one to be treated with whatever action is deemed appropriate.
Listening to the Chief Minister today, I think it was most interesting to hear her make the comments about how she was going to supervise and watch over the administration of the Bill. It sounds to me suspiciously like a bureaucratic
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .