Page 3157 - Week 11 - Wednesday, 11 September 1991
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One of those points that they have been pressing has been addressed, and that is the move-on powers. A second thing that the police have been very keen to see occur is the banning of drinking around the problem areas, and the problem areas basically are the bus interchanges, bus stops and around shopping centres - and not just the major shopping centres but also, regrettably, a lot of our suburban shopping centres.
My own suburban shopping centre at Rivett is no different from any other, and every time I go up to the shops I continually get criticisms of louts drinking around those shopping centres and a lot of damage and other crimes occurring at various times there. From talking to those shopkeepers, these things can be directly attributable to, in many cases, the drinking that goes on there. Similarly, I have a lot of other complaints from other shopkeepers throughout Canberra, and not just in the major centres such as Garema Place, either. The Melba shops is another one that springs to mind.
At this stage I would refer the Assembly, if members want to look into the details of the drinking problem in Canberra, to two reports. One is the report of the Select Committee on the Police Offences (Amendment) Bill in 1989, of which I was chairman. Mr Collaery was on that committee, as was Ms Maher. The other report is the Social Policy Committee report which came down last year and which looked at the problem of drinking in Canberra.
I think that what we are trying to prevent is quite plain. We are basically trying to prevent problems relating to the drinking of alcohol in certain problem areas in Canberra - problems caused by certain people who have no regard for the rights of the vast majority of Canberra citizens and who abuse a right that they have been given, and I think incorrectly given, in the 1970s. This is indeed what I am seeking to address with this Bill.
In fact, I think I raised this matter with Clyde Holding when about 16 of the current members of this Assembly were part of his consultative committee before the Assembly first started. The genesis of this particular Bill indeed was 1989; an initial draft was done then and circulated, I believe, to members, and also to members of the legal profession and interested bodies such as the Canberra Festival. A lot of their concerns were addressed.
Indeed, the current Bill, which I reactivated after the Alliance lost government, has taken up the concerns of those groups, and indeed some very helpful suggestions made by the ACT Bar Association which I have taken on board. I am rather sorry to say that, during the time of the Alliance Government, my colleague Mr Collaery, although he did make certain amendments to the Liquor Act, did not then see fit to proceed with the basis of this Bill. However, he will have his chance to redeem himself by voting for this Bill when it comes up for debate on the next occasion.
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