Page 4720 - Week 16 - Wednesday, 28 November 1990
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So it seems to me that there has been an improvement in the situation and I think that, properly managed and developed, this arrangement can be very useful to our community. Mr Speaker, on that basis, I am proposing today to vote against the proposal by the Australian Labor Party to repeal the move-on legislation.
MR WOOD (12.08), in reply: Mr Speaker, as I wind up the debate, a good starting point might be to go to some of Mr Collaery's comments when he quoted the words that I used when I introduced this Bill. To requote those words, I said that the background for the action and the thoughts behind it were based on narrow prejudice, preconceived and unproven ideas and entirely wrong opinions. I stand by those words. The original Bill was introduced by Mr Stefaniak, the person who proposes a curfew for our young people, the person who would apply stringent bail conditions to young offenders and who would want tougher provisions inserted into his Bill. So I think my statement is correct. It is borne out by events that have occurred and statements from Mr Stefaniak since that time.
A great deal has been made of statistics that were provided at the request of the Opposition following the promise in the select committee's report concerning the subsequent data from the introduction of that Bill. On the day that we debated my Bill first, Mr Collaery finally provided those statistics. He seemed to present them at the time as some great feat and something that was going to embarrass us severely, which we had not taken into account; yet, let me make it clear, we had asked for them.
Those statistics make one thing quite clear - that in a very short time and with a limited sample there has been a decrease in the number of charges. But, very significantly, there has been a considerable increase in the level of conflict between the police and young people. It does not seem to me to be a good move to increase the conflict between police and young people. I will have something more to say shortly about the way in which the police deal with young people.
Mr Speaker, I am concerned to make Canberra a safer place. I recognise the role that I share with other members of this Assembly as a legislator, and I am very concerned that Canberra should become even safer. On another committee on which I served, arising out of Mr Stefaniak's original proposal, we were told that, by any standard, Canberra is a safe place. My starting point is the simple statement that any level of violence is unsatisfactory. Canberra, then, is still not safe enough. And I would encourage only action that would achieve greater safety.
In his speech Mr Connolly showed that the move-on powers are simply not necessary. There are provisions in the law, as he clearly showed, under which police in all sorts of circumstances can take the appropriate action; there is no
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