Page 4453 - Week 15 - Tuesday, 19 November 1991
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
Ms Follett replied:
Well, I think that the Bill that is before us now is really a blend of my own draft Bill, possibly Mr Collaery's, although I didn't draw heavily on his.
Mr Abraham said:
It's not line for line the same as his?
Ms Follett's response was:
Well, I don't believe it is, no.
Mr Speaker, I seek leave to table the draft Discrimination Bill prepared and available to me on 27 May 1991.
Leave granted.
MR COLLAERY: I thank members. I also seek leave, Mr Speaker, to table an annotated comparative copy of the Bill now before the house. The annotations reveal the several minor changes - the somewhat unnecessary addition to the term "homosexuality" of "lesbianism"; the deletion of the exemption for pastoralists, who may wish to advertise for a married couple; and some other technical amendments.
Leave granted.
MR COLLAERY: I thank members. I now claim to the house that Ms Follett, both in her speech to this Assembly and in her utterances to the citizens of this Territory, has attempted to implant the notion that this Bill before us today was produced by her Government. Members can draw their own conclusions. I will not labour the point at this hour of the evening. What I do say is that, clearly, Ms Follett has implied, also wrongly, that the Bill now before the house stems from drafting instructions given to parliamentary counsel prior to her departure from government.
Drafting instructions simply had not been given. After seven months in office, human rights legislation was no more than a well intended course of action by the Labor Party. Members have access to that discussion paper that Ms Follett issued. I have it here; they can get a copy from me. It is a well intended general little essay that one would expect from a competent lawyer.
I now put on the record the real history of the Bill because Ms Follett was, of course, too churlish to do that. The Alliance Government Cabinet approved the drafting instructions for this Bill. From now on I am going to refer to this Bill - and I hope other members on this side of the house do - as our Bill, except for where we want to make some amendments. We will refer to this Bill as "our" corporate Bill, and we will see what Ms Follett says in reply.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .