Page 2906 - Week 10 - Wednesday, 15 August 1990
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MR STEVENSON: Were I to consider this Government to be legal, I would indeed push most strongly for - - -
Mrs Nolan: What are you doing here then?
MR STEVENSON: I think it is fairly obvious what I am doing here, Robyn. You well know. We need time.
Mr Kaine: He gets free board and lodging. That is why he is here.
MR STEVENSON: That was well said. So, with the few seconds I have left, I will once again highlight the fact that we need time for the people of Canberra to understand first of all what laws are being proposed and then to give them time to get their concerns and considerations across. I commend the matter to members and I give notice that I will move such a requirement with the Administration and Procedures Committee.
MR COLLAERY (Attorney-General) (3.55): Mr Speaker, I agree with Mr Stevenson that the matter he has raised is important. Although it is self-evident, it is nevertheless worth stating that legislation gives effect to policy. The policies this Assembly puts into the statute books may well outlive us all. I notice from an examination of our existing laws that one of the oldest, the Magna Carta, dates from 1297. Even at what might be thought a more mundane level, the legislation that protected the original and still significant water supply for Canberra, the Cotter River Act, was made in 1914.
Mr Duby: On a point of order, Mr Speaker: the date of the Magna Carta is 1215.
MR COLLAERY: Mr Speaker, I rely on the advice of my Law Office on these matters. I think Mr Stevenson has missed the point of our law making efforts. Speaking as one who has served in this Assembly, both in and out, I can understand that he does not think he has enough time to consider all of the matters that come before the Assembly, let alone the matters that are brought to his attention by constituents. I am sure we could all consider the Bills that are brought before us for a good deal longer than we do, but we have other responsibilities and in the end we must make decisions about the time we give to any one matter.
So far as our legislative responsibilities are concerned, I think we should make our decision from two perspectives and the first is that of the Government. We have a program to implement and no matter how long the term of the Assembly it would not be long enough for us to implement it in a way that, from what I can gather from his matter of public importance, would satisfy Mr Stevenson. We have been elected to represent the people of the ACT, Mr Stevenson, and to do so in a way that serves their interests. We
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