Page 577 - Week 02 - Thursday, 21 February 1991
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DOOR-TO-DOOR TRADING BILL 1990
Debate resumed from 15 August 1990, on motion by Mr Collaery:
That this Bill be agreed to in principle.
MR CONNOLLY (12.27): I must open my remarks by saying that it is ironic that at 12.26 pm on Thursday's sitting we are on to government business No. 1 of Tuesday's sitting. If there is any suggestion that there are problems with time or whatever in this Assembly, then the Government needs to address its own process of tactics this week.
The Opposition, of course, is supportive of this Bill. As the Attorney explained in his statement to the house when this was originally presented, which was back in August, this Bill is an outcome of the process of the Standing Committee of Consumer Affairs Ministers gradually updating consumer affairs legislation throughout Australia. The Door-to-Door Sales Act 1969 is being repealed by this Act. That was amended in 1976 and was itself, by and large, a process of being based on model legislation.
The other improvements, that require plain English contracts, a 10-day cooling-off period, limiting the hours during which door-to-door salespersons may call, and requiring a statement of consumer's rights to be handed over and read to the consumer, are all positive reforms which the Opposition is pleased to support.
I note that, since the Bill was originally introduced, the Attorney has circulated some further amendments that he is introducing to modify the hours during which door-to-door salespersons are precluded from calling on consumers. I was originally somewhat concerned about this, as there was a risk that the uniformity that the Bill is trying to achieve would be modified by varying the hours. I understand that, in fact, the hours are intended to vary slightly from State to State. The Opposition has no particularly firm view on this issue. The proposal, as I understand it, is to also exclude Christmas, Good Friday and Easter Sunday from days on which door-to-door salespersons may call. I am sure that the residents of the ACT would be well and truly pleased that they will not be flogged vacuum cleaners on Christmas Day, Good Friday or Easter Sunday. We have no difficulty with that modification.
This is a positive piece of legislation. There are still areas where consumers' rights need to be addressed. This is a Bill that really is an answer to a problem that was first being addressed in the 1960s. It is now on its, sort of, third version. Since the 1960s, when this was seen as a major problem, there are other areas that need addressing
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