Page 2865 - Week 10 - Thursday, 15 August 1991
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I believe that it is relevant that a senior official at the time, or in or about those times, may well have known of the circumstances of the society. I think that those times have passed and they will never occur again; but they are matters of continuing concern. If other governments in New South Wales and Western Australia see fit to revisit those situations, to see that justice is done and that those matters are fully investigated, it still remains open to this Assembly and to the Government, and to any people who may wish, pending forthcoming legislation in this Assembly, to take steps to see that those squalid chapters in our Territory's history are revealed, at least for the benefit of the knowledge that we will never go down that track again and so that it can never occur again.
Bill, as a whole, agreed to.
Bill agreed to.
EVIDENCE (CLOSED-CIRCUIT TELEVISION) BILL 1991
Debate resumed from 8 August 1991, on motion by Mr Connolly:
That this Bill be agreed to in principle.
MR COLLAERY (11.32): Mr Speaker, this is a reaffirmation of an existing piece of legislation which has attracted Australia-wide interest. It follows the report of the Australian Law Reform Commission, the commissioner in charge being that great Australian, Elizabeth Evatt.
Mr Speaker, the problem of examining or cross-examining a child is as horrendous for the legal practitioner - I am sure Mr Stefaniak agrees - as it is for the witness or, you could almost say, victim. The notable effort of the Chief Magistrate in this Territory, Mr Ron Cahill, in putting an enormous amount of energy into seeing that this experiment took place has resulted in the adoption of some of the processes and the precedent-setting arrangements elsewhere in Australia. It is to the credit of our judicial system, the magistracy in this Territory, that we have been so sensitive and that we are capable of embarking upon reform that does attract and will influence the processes of law and justice throughout our nation.
It is never pleasant to be part of a process that involves the taking of evidence from a child. I thought the Attorney set that out adequately in his introductory speech to the Bill. I commend the Bill to the house. The need for this Government that is presently responsible for the administration of justice to examine the application of video procedures in the examination of witnesses generally by the police and elsewhere has been noted. I trust that the Attorney will report to the house the current situation
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