Page 2721 - Week 13 - Tuesday, 21 November 1989
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The scenario presented to me by a former colleague was that if he, being a person well known to the police, shot his wife, walked into the police station and said to the fellow at the desk whom he knew, "Listen, Fred, I've just shot my wife. Here is the shotgun. You know where I live. Send me out a summons and it will be sweet", he would satisfy all those six criteria, after having committed what is certainly the most serious offence you can commit in Australia. To be summonsed for a serious offence like that - and that person certainly would fall within that criterion - is a bit of an anomaly.
Perhaps that indicates room for improvement in section 352 and perhaps that is something the Government can look at, especially as we approach June and July of next year when we will be taking over responsibility for the courts and police and the administration of the Crimes Act. But this Bill proposed by the Government is a commonsense Bill, which we support.
MR DUBY (3.26): Mr Speaker, my party supports the Acts Revision (Arrest Without Warrant) Bill of 1989. Twelve Acts have been reviewed and, where the power of arrest without warrant applies, will be repealed or amended so that section 352 of the New South Wales Crimes Act 1900 is the only source which will provide a general power of arrest without warrant.
Law has always been a complex subject. Acts and ordinances need to be read carefully and interpreted correctly to avoid wrong decisions being made by authorities. If this Bill is passed by the Assembly I envisage that the law concerning the power of arrest without warrant will be made simpler and more easily understood by all.
On this point, Mr Speaker, I would like to congratulate the Chief Minister on her commitment to simplifying this law so that confusion and misunderstanding can be avoided. I do not intend to comment on each individual amendment to a particular Act because, as I understand it, this Bill merely repeals or amends inoperative or redundant provisions on the statute books. However, I have examined each and every item mentioned in the Bill and have found no flaws with any of the amendments made to the various Acts.
The amendments are, in my opinion, of a technical nature only and, as was mentioned in the Chief Minister's speech, do not alter the substance of the law affecting the power of arrest without warrant. Moreover, these amendments are intended to confine the source of power of arrest without warrant to one section only, and that is section 352 of the New South Wales Crimes Act 1900, which is the Act that applies in the ACT. Mr Speaker, I accordingly commend the Bill to the house.
MR JENSEN (3.28): Mr Speaker, my learned leader was to comment on this Bill, but he is otherwise detained at the moment.
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