Page 3302 - Week 11 - Thursday, 12 September 1991
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
Mr Jensen: Well, I say that it is not, Wayne.
MR SPEAKER: Order!
MR BERRY: Nobody believes you either, Norm.
Mr Collaery: We have never even discussed the election, about it.
MR BERRY: Why are you so sensitive about it? It is a political stunt. I accept that. Nobody would argue that you are not entitled to do that, but the timing is silly. Look at the reporting date - 30 November 1991. It is a quick fix. Why would you pick 30 November 1991 on such an important issue, if you really think that these things need to be inquired into in detail? A review of penalties under the ACT Liquor Act - I do not know how long that would take. It would take a while, I think. A review of trading hours - - -
Mr Kaine: About three months, I would reckon.
MR BERRY: Yes. It would take a while. Access to licensed premises; planning and leasing matters - a fairly intensive inquiry would be required there, I suspect. A review of services presently available for those affected by alcohol; safety issues; and public order issues - if you were serious about these issues it would take several months to address them. There are perhaps six very serious issues of great weight which would have to be inquired into, if you in fact need an inquiry.
I argue that we do not need an inquiry. We know about the problems. What we have to do is work out ways to address them. Political stunts like this do not lead us anywhere because we will have an inquiry and a quick fix that does not address all the issues properly, and the people who have to deal with them will not have any faith in the outcome. It might be all right for the Residents Rally to do these sorts of things for political purposes, but what will happen next year when other people are elected to this Assembly? They will be left with the recommendations to deal with in some way.
My view about this is that if you want an inquiry, if you are desperate to have an inquiry, it ought to be a sensible inquiry that addresses the issues, gets to the bottom of the problems and comes up with sensible recommendations. It is quite proper for this house to deal with an inquiry within its own committee structure. There seems to be no reason why that could not happen. If you were really serious about an inquiry you would be very keen to address this issue yourself and make recommendations to this Assembly. This all points to a political stunt.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .