Page 4788 - Week 16 - Monday, 25 November 1991
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
That is absolutely not the case. Dr Kinloch and I felt that they were a very good idea. Unfortunately, the majority of the committee did not feel the same way at the time.
One of the steps we felt it was absolutely necessary to take was a restriction in the licensing hours. Indeed, on that point we put in additional comments. Of the recommendations the committee made - there were 23 in all - 14 related to alcohol. It was an amazing situation. Well over half of the recommendations we made related to alcohol or the problems it caused. Something should be done about alcohol in the ACT and other places, and Bill Stefaniak's amendment will do something about that. This amendment is not about prohibition. That is a nonsense. It is not about making the drinking of alcohol in a public place illegal.
Mr Berry: It is a $400 fine. Haven't you read through the Bill?
MR STEVENSON: Mr Berry says that it is a $400 fine, but he did not hear what I said. It is not about making the drinking of alcohol in a public place illegal. It is about making the drinking of alcohol in certain public places illegal.
Mr Berry: Oh, that's it.
MR STEVENSON: Yes, and there is a vast difference. There is no doubt whatsoever that there are certain places in Canberra where the drinking of alcohol is a problem. One is Garema Place. I have spoken often of the problems that occur because people become intoxicated in that area and are found in the early morning, during shopping hours, getting mixed up with the shoppers.
We are all well aware that there have been problems in bus interchanges. We should make bus interchanges safe places. This is where you have to wait if you want to catch a bus. Mr Connolly mentioned that some young people who had been moved on said that they were just waiting for their bus. There are many thousands of people who every day wait for buses at bus interchanges, and they should have the right to do that without people drinking alcohol nearby. A percentage of those people, granted, cause problems for people who are waiting.
Mr Berry: You were on the committee. What doublespeak!
MR STEVENSON: Mr Berry says that I was on the committee. Indeed I was, and we made many recommendations, 14 in all, relating to alcohol. Dr Kinloch and I recommended that licensing hours be changed. We did not recommend in our additional comments that the matter Bill Stefaniak now addresses be included. Dr Kinloch and I both think that would have been a good idea. We did not go with the majority, but I do agree that when one attaches dissenting
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .