Page 480 - Week 02 - Wednesday, 20 February 1991
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And what occurs down there? I do not know whether any of the members of the Opposition know - even Mr Connolly, because Mr Connolly, although I respect his legal ability, was working in the central office of Attorney-General's and was not really a practising solicitor. So, for their edification, when one puts in an application to be heard in the Small Claims Court, it is initially heard by a registrar who gets the parties together and sees whether that problem, that dispute, can be solved. It is heard by a magistrate only as a last resort. So, there is a resolution structure in place within the Small Claims Court where, hopefully, a person does not even have to get to the stage of appearing in front of a magistrate. There is that procedure there. That may well be one entirely appropriate means by which disputes, such as would come before the board as envisaged by Mr Connolly, could be easily settled. It was, indeed, one of the tenets of the setting up of the Small Claims Court that disputes of that type or nature could be settled easily, without recourse to complex legal action.
I am a little bit concerned, too, to see the Labor Party pooh-poohing the idea of what is a very useful and, I think, increasingly important body in Canberra, and that is the Conflict Resolution Service. I recall speaking with people from that service very soon after this Assembly started. By the very nature of it, and where it was and, I think, some rather unfounded comments someone else might have made to me, I thought, "Hello, this is probably just some weird little trendy lefty group". Far from it. I was very pleasantly surprised to see what a useful, although at that stage, very underfunded body, the Conflict Resolution Service was, what dedicated individuals were there, working on a shoestring budget, and what a very real and very effective service they provided to the citizens of Canberra.
Mr Connolly: They got good funding from the Follett Labor Government.
MR STEFANIAK: I am not too sure, Mr Connolly. I think when I first talked to them they were getting only about $50,000 - - -
Mr Connolly: Which you kept up.
MR STEFANIAK: Thank you for saying that; yes, we kept that up, and, I think, in fact, we increased it. As Mr Connolly indicated, yes, they funded it and he says that to our credit we kept that up, and - through you, Mr Temporary Deputy Speaker - in fact, I think we substantially increased that funding to, I understand, $124,000 and an extra $50,000 as well in the current budget.
Mr Moore: That is because there is so much more conflict under you.
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