Page 4037 - Week 14 - Wednesday, 24 October 1990
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He said:
I am quite happy to have that written into the record.
He asked me to back it up. I refer Mr Wood, the Labor Party and Mr Moore, if he is going to vote against the very important legislation that is currently in force, to the Canberra Times survey of 19 August 1989. A poll of 651 people, which is pretty big for Canberra, showed that 69 per cent of all respondents favoured police getting more powers, with women, at 73 per cent, being more in favour than men, at 66 per cent. Only 25 per cent of the population surveyed were against the powers, and the rest were unsure. Mr Speaker, as I said when the original Bill was introduced, when that poll was first available to us, 58 per cent of those aged 18 to 25 - young people - were in favour of the police getting these powers.
Mr Berry: Which powers?
MR STEFANIAK: The police move-on powers. Also in favour were 66 per cent in the 25- to 39-year age bracket, 74 per cent of the 40- to 54-year-olds, and 81 per cent of the 55-year-olds or over. It is a very popular piece of legislation, and it has been used quite extensively by the police, to very good effect. Mr Berry indicated that the last report that was before the Assembly - I think Mr Collaery has had some other reports since then - indicated that in May 700 people had been moved on.
Recent information indicates that since its introduction, on 6 September 1989, to 30 September 1990 there have been 106 situations, with 120 formal directions to approximately 1,450 people. Mr Speaker, only 12 people have been arrested for non-compliance. I note that when the original Bill was introduced the Attorney-General said that he hoped that we would see a decrease in court of such charges as offensive behaviour. That has occurred. Information given to us indicates that there has been a decrease in arrests for offences against good order, such as offensive behaviour. It is interesting to note that the decrease in the number of arrests for these types of offences has occurred since the power was introduced.
Mr Berry: How much is the decrease?
Mr Connolly: Can you table those figures?
MR STEFANIAK: I will give you some figures if you listen. From 1 September 1988 to 31 August 1989, before this power was operative, there were 150 reported offences against good order, including 48 incidents of offensive behaviour. From 1 September 1989 until 31 August 1990, when we had the move-on power - it came into force on 6 September - there were only 102 reported offences against good order, including only 19 incidents of offensive behaviour, instead of 48.
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