Page 5494 - Week 17 - Wednesday, 4 December 1991
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The people who are opposing this Bill going through are simply keen to ensure that they do not lose a few votes on one side or the other of what they see as their political spectrum, instead of thinking about what is best for the people of Canberra, what is best - and I refer particularly to Dr Kinloch - for people who are working in this profession.
When we try to pass legislation that deals with what is best for them, it ought not to be paternalistic and patronising. It ought to provide them with power to act on their own behalf, and that is what this legislation is really about. If you do not respond and go with it now, you are putting off for yet another half-year or more the ability to provide women with that power, in the vast majority of cases.
MR COLLAERY (11.39): It is unfortunate that Mr Moore has come so far and is faltering on the last steps. Let us get one thing clear: We are not going to do Mr Moore's law reform writing for him. We do enough as it is. We are just about single-handedly running the criminal law reform process in this Territory; I think that is obvious to anyone. I am not physically going to produce the amendments to the Occupational Health and Safety Act to include prostitutes as a designated work group, to define the diseases and other issues that are required. If we are going to introduce proper law reform here, we are not going to have the clause Mr Moore proposes, which states:
A person shall not operate or manage a brothel which is situated other than in -
... Tuggeranong ...
The words quite clearly, in their collateral sense, give government accreditation to a brothel. We have made it clear from the start that we are not going to support legislation that legitimises brothel keepers until they are subject to removal of the police from their de facto regulation of the premises, the imposition of occupational health and safety reforms, and the amendments to the Moore Bill that are required.
Mr Moore wants to hot up the pace by bringing in a confusing set of amendments. It requires too much work for those of us under pressure. Mr Moore should adjourn it himself and get his act together, knowing what we want, and make sure that we do not simply deregulate and leave a vacuum, which will be the effect of this, as far as I can work out.
I move now to the Government. It is not a reformist government; Mr Moore should know that. You could not expect the Labor Party to assist you with this work. It is now self-help in this chamber. The Labor Party is not on about reform. We do not know the reasons for that, but it is not on about reform. The Rally is stuck with all its
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