Page 4983 - Week 17 - Tuesday, 11 December 1990
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
The Leader of the Opposition has not given us credit for the advice we have received. There has been a pretty tough attack on the people who draft our legislation - and there is much of it at the moment - because we had to bring in a few amendments and tidy a few things up. I thought that remark was unbecoming. I want to publicly place on record that I acknowledge the debt of the Territory to our draftspeople.
From 1 January 1991, the TAB, trading as ACTTAB Ltd, will be free to trade to maximum commercial advantage, with the benefits, of course, flowing to the people of the ACT. That says it all. As a Government we are seeking to maximise the benefits of this process to the people of the ACT. This Government has made these arrangements openly and is putting them on the table in the best traditions of the open system of management, which the Federal Labor Party seems to endorse fully on the hill these days. On the advice available to us, we believe that this is a new process for maximising the commercial advantage of the TAB. I believe that having a separate TAB is something that is reflected in interstate practice. Perhaps this is another aspect of the ACT processes coming of age.
The Liquor Licensing Board and the Registrar of Liquor Licences will, under the new provisions in the Liquor Bill, be equipped to regulate liquor matters in an efficient, cost-effective and accountable manner. That, again, is the rationale. There are many other amendments. There are social imperatives in some of our amendments to do with surveillance of liquor licensees, under-age drinking, and the rest. They are good motives.
I believe that the Leader of the Opposition cheapened the debate by suggesting that the Chief Minister was driven by some ideology in the Priorities Review Board report. Some of these reforms have been pressed on us. Indeed, they have been pressed on us by the same people who were pressing them on Ms Follett when she was in power. In that sense, how could they be seen to be the hallmark of the Alliance when they had been part of the agenda prior to self-government, they were taken up by the previous Government as part of their stated intentions, and now we are bringing them forward?
The fact is that this Opposition is not willing to do us the courtesy of allowing us the normal processes that oppositions give in other parliaments. We all wait for the day when they will start doing that and start supporting Bills that clearly, on their face, attempt to tackle some of the issues facing society. It is not really clear from the speech of the Leader of the Opposition what is going to be opposed and what will be finally accepted in the Bill.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .