Page 2907 - Week 10 - Wednesday, 15 August 1990
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cannot do so without legislation. There are very few areas of government activity that are not affected by legislation - our budget strategy, for example. We must also keep making what I think can be thought of as housekeeping amendments to iron out the inevitable difficulties that day-to-day events disclose in our legislation.
The second perspective is that of the Assembly as a whole, and it especially concerns those who are not part of the Government. I look forward to hearing the views of the Opposition on this matter, but I can well recall the pressures I felt when I was in their position. As an Assembly we have a responsibility not to be overcome by the requirements of government. The solution that may appeal to the Government will not always be the best one for the ACT and its people. In government we have recognised this and we take every opportunity to provide opportunities for community views to be expressed, most notably on the planning legislation that we are developing.
Mr Speaker, there will always be some conflict between these perspectives. I think we have, on the whole, arrived at a reasonable balance between them. I cannot speak for the Opposition, but I think the solutions that have been adopted since this Assembly first sat have, on the whole, been satisfactory. I do not say there is not room for improvement, there always will be, but in seeking improvement we should recognise the matters I have discussed and the competition for our time that they lead to.
I would like to make a few points about specific legislative initiatives that have been before the Assembly. In making these points I should again stress that I am not saying that all the proposed legislation that has come before us has done so in a completely satisfactory way. But, as can be seen, the Assembly's record is, on the whole, good.
Mr Speaker, as you can see from the Assembly's daily Bills list, there are very few Bills that have passed through the Assembly in what might, at first glance, appear to be short order. I will mention one of them to make my point that this is not something that calls for complaint. I draw your attention to a Bill for which I was responsible, the Director of Public Prosecutions Bill 1990. As I said in this Assembly on 31 May this year when introducing the Bill, its passage was necessary to allow the prosecution of offences against Territory laws to continue after 1 July this year when amendments to the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions Act would remove Territory laws from its coverage. There was very little in the Bill that was not in similar Commonwealth and State legislation. The Bill was passed on 7 June this year. It was before the Assembly for seven days. During that time it was examined by the scrutiny of bills committee. As mentioned by my legal colleague Mr Connolly when the committee's report was
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