Page 4785 - Week 16 - Monday, 25 November 1991
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Mr Wood, although he skirted around this issue, did get down to it towards the end of his speech when he said that it is not peculiar to Canberra, it is a national problem; and so it is. We cannot shirk our responsibilities because of that, and I suggest that just for once the members of this Assembly should face up to the issue and agree to do something about it. Mr Stefaniak has taken the initiative. He has put a proposal on the table. It cannot be regarded in any way as being an objectionable proposal, depending on whose viewpoint you are looking at, of course. But I do not believe that it is in the interests of the average person in this community that this proposal should in any way be regarded as objectionable. Its effects can only be beneficial.
We should stop this political grandstanding, which people often refer to. A lot of it goes on in this place, and I think we would do better to address the issue. One of our better known journalists has commented about the absolute ineffectiveness of this place last week. We did nothing; the debate was diverted from the real issues.
Mr Connolly: You should have been here on Thursday night.
MR KAINE: You can point at somebody else, Mr Connolly. You are a member of the Executive in this place. We allowed ourselves to be diverted from the issues that are important. Let us not do that this week. We are running short of sitting time. The Government is going to be asking for extra sitting time any tick of the clock, to get their business finished before this house dissolves. Yet we sit around beating our gums instead of dealing with the issues. This is an issue that needs to be dealt with. It needs to be dealt with now. For heaven's sake, let us vote on it and deal with the problem.
MR MOORE (11.59): A great deal of the work I have done recently with reference to drugs has been done on the principle of harm minimisation - that it is appropriate to minimise the harm associated with illegal drugs. I have also argued constantly that it is appropriate to minimise the harm associated with the use of legal drugs, which includes tobacco and alcohol. I believe that the Bill presented by Mr Stefaniak, especially with the stopping places deleted and that amendment carried, would reduce the harm associated with alcohol by establishing the bus interchanges as prescribed places.
The other thing I find ironic is that the provision to establish any other place as a prescribed place is clearly a great worry to Labor. They must perceive that they are not going to be in power next time, because if they were confident about that they would also be confident that they will be the ones that could prescribe the places. So, there is obviously a great worry for them there, which I can understand. That being the case, and having made my point in about one minute, I make it clear that I support this Bill with its amendment.
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