Page 3560 - Week 12 - Thursday, 20 September 1990
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this opportunity of acknowledging the Government's gratitude for the time and trouble which Mr Curtis has taken in preparing this major document. I am sure that all members of the Assembly will join me in conveying our thanks to Mr Curtis.
It is a model of clarity and lucidity for a discussion paper involving a complex and, to many people, abstruse subject. As many members will be aware, Mr Curtis was formerly a deputy secretary of the Commonwealth Attorney-General's Department. He has been able to apply the extensive experience and knowledge of court administration thus gained to comprehensively address the major issues confronting the Territory Government in relation to our courts.
The present early period of self-government provides us with a particularly appropriate opportunity to be innovative and adopt a sensible and cost-effective restructuring of the Territory's courts. There is no need to be unduly circumscribed by what is done by the Commonwealth, the States or the Northern Territory.
I think it is realistic to comment that, when the Territory's courts were under Commonwealth control, it seemed that there was never an appropriate time for giving proper attention to the Territory's courts. National needs prevailed over those of the Territory. This is why it is so desirable that full advantage should be taken of the present opportunity.
Some members may feel that such an urgent and important issue as this should be referred to the newly constituted Community Law Reform Committee under the chairmanship of the Honourable John Kelly, who was formerly a judge of the Supreme Court of the Territory and of the Federal Court of Australia. However, this is an important matter calling for full consideration by the Government as part of its duty to discharge its responsibilities for the effective administration of the Territory. In so doing, it will have the benefit of an extensive consultative process. To this end, I will be closely consulting with the judges and Master of the Supreme Court, the magistrates of the Magistrates Court and the members of the ACT Administrative Appeals Tribunal and the Credit Tribunal in order to obtain their views as well as those of the presidents of the Law Society and the Bar Association. Members' attention is also drawn to my comments to this matter earlier this week in the chamber in response to a matter of public importance.
There will be a process of consultation at the widest level with members of the public and representatives of various community groups. This will be accomplished by means of a seminar, at which there will be ample opportunity for all persons interested in the subject to express their views in a public forum. In order to encourage this process, the seminar - and that can be read singularly or in the plural;
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