Page 4467 - Week 15 - Tuesday, 19 November 1991
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is quite false - utterly and completely false. Clearly, the Bill now before the Assembly is substantially the Bill drafted by those draftspeople who served the Alliance Government. Of course, they are the same draftspeople, to a large extent, who now serve the Labor Government. Obviously there is, in these debates, some attribution of draftsmanship or of parentage to particular politicians.
We all know full well that those loyal souls who work away in the legislative counsel's office are in fact responsible for 95 per cent of what appears in Bills in this place, but we persist with the myth that there is some authorship in the politicians who present these Bills. If there is any authorship, clearly it belongs principally and primarily to Mr Collaery, not to Ms Follett. I would regret very much to see Ms Follett saying to the community that the enactment of this legislation tonight, or whenever, is a major achievement for the Labor Government. That would be a quite false suggestion, and I give her notice that we will certainly be contending otherwise if she makes that case in the broader community. Clearly, it is only partially the achievement, in small part perhaps, of the Labor Government.
Clearly, legislation of this kind is overdue in the ACT. Clearly, it is appropriate for us to ensure that the citizens of the Territory are adequately protected by provisions of this kind. I have no doubt at all that there have been cases, even in the recent past, where what we would consider people's inherent rights, or assumed rights, have been breached, for which no legal remedy has been available because legislation of this kind was not available.
I do not think that those of us on this side of the house need to apologise for taking some time to put this legislation before the community and for encouraging comment and debate on that legislation, because it has produced, I think, a Bill which has had a few improvements made to it. Legislation of this kind is so incredibly important, incredibly sensitive and incredibly dangerous in some respects that we are warranted in taking that time to discover those sorts of problems and identify them in the course of this process.
I believe that the amendments foreshadowed by Mr Stefaniak are appropriate. It astonishes me that we should consider outlawing discrimination on the basis of status as a parent or carer, race or political conviction, while making no reference at all to one of the most common forms of discrimination, and that is discrimination on the basis of whether or not one belongs to a trade union or to particular sorts of professional associations. Clearly, that is a major cause of concern. It is a major problem for many people in this community every year as they seek to gain employment. For us to leave aside that very important case of discrimination would be, I think, quite reprehensible. As such, I think it behoves us to ensure that that is covered properly in this legislation.
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