Page 901 - Week 03 - Thursday, 14 March 1991
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MR STEFANIAK (10.53): Mr Temporary Deputy Speaker, this Bill has been around in one form or another for a long time. It had its genesis, I think, in 1977, when the Fraser Government was responsible for the ACT. There were a number of drafts, and one of the most recent ones, from which the current Bill emanates, was largely settled, I understand, in 1988 and 1989. I was somewhat surprised, when the Bill came in in 1990, to find that it was quite different from what most people - the police and the various sporting shooters groups - expected from a Bill that had been virtually settled in 1989. No-one is too sure exactly what happened, but the Bill tabled for discussion by the Attorney-General about this time last year was substantially different.
I think we have to be quite clear about what happened because it is relevant to the consultation time, which I know Mr Stevenson is very concerned about. That Bill resulted in quite a bit of consultation. I saw a large number of shooting groups. I made a submission, along with one of my government colleagues, to Mr Collaery. In fact, I made several submissions, and one very detailed one mentioned about 50 points in relation to the Bill. I am very pleased to see that the substantive points were taken up by the Government Law Office. They were reasonable points raised by reasonable people in the shooting movement.
I understand that the current Bill was finalised only recently, but there was a lot of consultation last year. Perhaps it is a pity that this Bill was not prepared a month or two earlier so that there could have been a little more consultation; but I think, by and large, there was a significant amount of consultation last year, and this Bill is a distinct improvement on what was here this time last year.
One of the most relevant improvements is the provision in paragraph 5(1)(m) dealing with sporting shooters. Under the old Bill one would have had to be a member of a club to be able to hold a dangerous weapon. I cannot, for the life of me, think of any club in the ACT which engages in competitions for .22 long bore rifles. Indeed, I would think the majority of sporting shooters in the ACT probably have such weapons.
Accordingly, as a result of lobbying and meetings between the Attorney-General and the sporting shooters - the sporting shooters saw a number of other people, me included - I am delighted to see their legitimate interests
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