Page 5037 - Week 16 - Wednesday, 27 November 1991
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That is the policy which we apply. I wish to have that on the record to clearly indicate that we do not support the establishment of a brothel and escort agency licensing board.
MR MOORE (11.07), in reply: Mr Speaker, in listening to the debate, I think it is quite clear that there are four major areas of concern. The first area of concern, I believe, is a need for more time, as Mr Berry said. Mr Berry's comment that there was no protection for workers is the second issue. The third issue that Mr Berry raised was that there were no occupational health and safety provisions in the legislation. The fourth area of concern, and the one that has become much clearer today, is the concern over the licensing board. Mr Speaker, I shall just take each of these areas of concern in turn.
The first issue is a need for more time. Mr Berry, in particular, and Mr Connolly again today expressed a need to go slow on this Bill and to refer it to the Community Law Reform Committee. The report on which this legislation was drawn was tabled in April 1991. This Government and members of the Assembly have had nearly eight months to table a response to the committee's report, thus expressing their concerns, to speak to me or to refer the matter to the Community Law Reform Committee.
It was quite clear - and I have made it clear to all members - that my methodology in drawing this Bill was to hand the committee report, with its compromises, to the Parliamentary Counsel and say, "Please draft the Bill according to this committee report". So, it was never a Michael Moore Prostitution Bill; it was a Bill prepared directly from the committee report, with its compromises.
The Labor Party has neither tabled a response to our report of eight months ago nor suggested, until this close to an election, that this Bill should be referred to the Community Law Reform Committee. This is a very late idea. It is a straw which they are grasping at simply to avoid having to deal with any of the hard issues. This is a "do nothing" Labor Government frightened of losing even one or two votes. It has put votes above what is clearly the greater good of the community.
Mrs Grassby: You do not know the Goss story, obviously.
MR MOORE: Mrs Grassby interjects something about the Goss story. I am quite happy to talk about Mr Goss. While his own review committee, the Criminal Justice Commission, was looking into prostitution, and long before he had all the information before him, Mr Goss said, "I do not care what they say. I do not care what the information is. I do not care what this report might say. We are not going to have any decriminalisation of prostitution in Queensland". What a great intellect that is! If you want to model your approach on him, good on you; give it a try. In dealing with the law reform and the Community Law Reform Committee,
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