Page 376 - Week 02 - Wednesday, 21 February 1990
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The ACT is in the very desirable position of establishing a first. We are undertaking a new venture - in this case, determining the policing that we want in the ACT. We can determine just what we want in policing, and we should determine that. We should not allow events to proceed so that arrangements come into place that we have not examined in the greatest detail. We should make sure that we get exactly what we want. By "we", I mean the ACT community of which we are representatives. That is the reason why it is important that a committee should inquire into this matter, because it provides the broadest base for consultation. I am suggesting that we do not want bureaucratic consideration, although we would listen to the bureaucrats. We do not want just the proposals of government. We want the Assembly to take on this issue and use the committees which are the means by which parliament can extend into the community. That is the desirable way to go.
I propose a select committee. I would note at this stage that the ALP submission to the Speaker on the future of the committee structure in this Assembly suggests that the use of select committees should be rare. I agree with that. So I do need to justify our suggestion of a select committee. I think it is clear why we need to make it a select committee. First of all, no standing committee clearly has reference to policing in the ACT. So it is logical to provide a select committee that can do that task. Secondly, it is such an important matter that parties may want to nominate members with specific interest in that area. That is sensible; there may be people on either side who want to be involved, so we should allow that flexibility.
Another point is that the standing committees are already quite busy, and they may not be able to fit this task into their program or timetable. For those reasons, I believe it is sensible that a select committee be appointed. I might also indicate that the Labor Party is considering the important matter of justice and our legal system, the court system, and we will perhaps be suggesting to the Government shortly that a similar course of action be undertaken in that respect.
There is much to be determined as we take over policing. For me, the starting point of that process is what manner of policing we want in the ACT. I believe that we should not look at what is operating now. We do not take existing models and say, "Okay, how do we change this to suit?". Rather we go back to basics and say, "What do we want? What do we need in this Territory for our policing?". We need to ask questions of how the police should relate to the community. When we have determined that, we can move on to questions such as the structure and control of the police, the training they need and the resources they should be allocated. These are the first questions before we move on to consider what type of force we need to fulfil our requirements. We first determine our objectives then later determine what we need to fill those objectives.
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