Page 5075 - Week 17 - Wednesday, 12 December 1990
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matter. Personally, I have nothing against either boobs or bellybuttons. I do not find them a problem. However, one does recognise the sort of sexist nature that goes with such advertising and it seems to me that these are some of the areas in which we could encourage what I would perceive as a better approach.
The other issue that I think is most important and one that I am sure the Australian Federal Police are working hard to deal with is that a number of people have genuine fears about their own safety. I think we have to ensure their safety through proper planning. No doubt there will be incidents, and we must not jump to conclusions if one or two incidents occur, but with proper planning we should be able to allay the fears in terms of public safety. I believe that quite a lot of effort has gone into that, and it will be very interesting for us to analyse that and see whether it has been successful following this year's Summernats.
What I am looking forward to is the fact that the people who are involved with their motor vehicles and with what they perceive as fun will, in fact, have a good time, and that they will be able to have a good time and boost the tourist industry here, but at the same time have a good time without inflicting an uncomfortable time or a bad time on other people. That is the balance that we have to find and that is what appropriate planning must provide, to allow people to work side by side and live side by side, happily getting the advantages of what they are all entitled to enjoy.
MS FOLLETT (Leader of the Opposition) (12.22): Mr Speaker, I thank all members for their contributions to the debate on the Summernats this morning. I particularly thank Government members for the information that they have at last made available to us, which I must say has gone some way towards allaying my concerns about the event this year. I think there are certain principles that we have to look at in relation to this event: first of all, is there equality of rights? As Mr Moore has pointed out, the residents in that area have the right to the amenity of their area. They are paying for it; they have every right to enjoy it. They also have the right to feel secure and unthreatened in their community, and I think we have to make every effort to ensure that that right is met.
We are also talking about the rights of equality before the law. I think that one of the most offensive things about the Summernats is that all of us in the area saw people breaking the law and getting away with it on a regular basis. Mr Speaker, if I were to dump oil on the road I would be charged. It happens regularly with this event and people appear to get away with it. If I were to drive around this Assembly at breakneck speed, with no muffler on my car, something would be done; and yet that happened in suburban streets last year during the Summernats and nothing appeared to be done.
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