Page 3256 - Week 11 - Thursday, 12 September 1991
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current legislation and the practices that are in place at the moment, and to recommend to the Government ways to improve the legislation and the administrative practices, if that is appropriate, and to enhance the effectiveness of domestic violence law in the ACT.
Mr Speaker, there is a somewhat garbled and misleading statement or article in the Canberra Times this morning about the terms of reference that I have given to the Community Law Reform Committee. I would like to make it very clear that the terms of reference have been developed from a range of issues which have been drawn to my attention, including four issues which the National Committee on Violence Against Women asked each State and Territory government to consider.
Those four issues are: Firstly, automatic detention or refusal of bail when protection orders are breached; secondly, automatic confiscation of firearms and dangerous weapons when protection orders are issued; thirdly, mandatory arrest and custodial detention of violent offenders; and, fourthly, automatic cancellation of custody and access orders when protection orders are breached. Those are the issues, the basic issues, which I have asked the Community Law Reform Committee to examine, to hold public consultations on and to report to me on.
I think that the article this morning said that the Government was considering a range of matters. Well, we are not. We have asked the Community Law Reform Committee to consider and consult and advise us on those matters. So, the article was quite misleading to that extent.
MR SPEAKER: Mr Duby, I would ask you to withdraw the word "lie" that you used against the Chief Minister as well, if you would not mind. I ask for an unqualified withdrawal.
Mr Duby: Unqualified, absolutely.
MR SPEAKER: Thank you.
Mr Duby: It was not meant as a lie; it was clearly an untruth, though.
Pairs
MR STEVENSON: My question is to the Chief Minister. Is it the established practice in this Assembly, as it is in other parliaments, that pairing is arranged when a member from one side of the house has a commitment which requires their absence from the parliament? As an example, Mrs Nolan is currently on CPA business in New Zealand. If the Chief Minister is unable to answer
the question, she might pass it on to Mr Berry.
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