Page 1653 - Week 06 - Thursday, 13 August 1992
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Mr Connolly: And we accepted that consequence. It is like a little jewel in a pile of garbage: Occasionally there is something there.
MR KAINE: You accepted that one, but you will not accept our argument about all the other unintended consequences. You will not follow a logical process. Only two days ago you said on that point, "That is rubbish". You said that it was rubbish, Mr Connolly. You probably still think it is rubbish. It is Mr Wood who had the sense to come back with the amendment to fix it. I think that speaks for itself.
There are major problems with this Bill. That was one Mr Wood saw the sense of and is about to correct. I suggest that he needs to think carefully about the severity of the offence and consider whether or not promoting - whatever form promoting might take - really warrants a penalty of the order of magnitude that is suggested here. I think it is grossly out of proportion to the nature of the crime.
MR HUMPHRIES (12.26): Madam Speaker, to take the point Mr Moore made yesterday about matching the severity of offences one against the other, in subclause 17(1) we have now agreed that it should be an offence punishable by a $10,000 fine or one year's imprisonment to promote an illegal activity, namely, a cockfight or a fox-hunt or something of that kind. Those are illegal activities, certainly as far as cockfights are concerned, not just here but in surrounding New South Wales, and probably everywhere in Australia. Here, promoting an illegal activity is worth a $10,000 fine or one year's imprisonment. Okay, we have accepted that; that has been passed. Are we now saying that the promotion of a legal activity just across the border is going to attract the same level of penalty?
Mr Wood: No, you are saying that.
MR HUMPHRIES: No, you are saying it.
Mr Wood: No, not so.
MR HUMPHRIES: No, you are saying that. With the greatest respect to the intelligence of the Minister, the Bill says:
A person shall not promote, conduct or take part in a rodeo.
Penalty: $10,000 or imprisonment for 1 year, or both.
You cannot modify that by - - -
Mr Wood: Sit down and let me explain it.
MR HUMPHRIES: I beg your pardon, Minister. I am entitled to finish my speech, and I will. Madam Speaker, there is no code of practice exemption under clause 20; that is specifically excluded. The Minister may say that promotion does not mean putting up a sign; it means something more than that. I do not take that point either. A rodeo enthusiast who lives in Canberra and goes to all the rodeos around the place, and who puts up a sign in his window saying "The Bungendore rodeo is on next weekend", is liable to a term of imprisonment, and certainly to a hefty fine. That is just not cricket. If the Government is serious about putting things on a par, it will not make the promotion of a legal activity as serious as the promotion of an illegal activity.
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