Page 1677 - Week 06 - Thursday, 13 August 1992
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Mr Connolly: You do not need a definition for every word in the Bill.
MR HUMPHRIES: I am looking at the sorts of offences that might be created. There are such things as calf roping competitions, for example, which are conducted separately from full-scale rodeos, and other acts that cowboys perform in rodeos, which might not be - - -
Mr Berry: Oh, yes - other acts that cowboys perform.
MR HUMPHRIES: I am not talking about rolling a cigarette with one hand, Mr Berry; I am talking about something more sophisticated than that. These sorts of things constitute elements of a rodeo and I am not quite sure where the line between a full-scale rodeo and those sorts of things might be. I recall, years ago, seeing in the Monaro Mall, as it then was, an exhibition of horsemanship which included the sorts of things that I imagine one sees in a rodeo. I would hate to think that some poor promoter put on some kind of show like that in Canberra and unwittingly found himself prosecuted because he was putting on elements of a rodeo. How much of a rodeo makes a rodeo? I do not know.
Mr Berry: Dressage; with a big hat on.
MR HUMPHRIES: "Dressage", says Mr Berry. Dressage makes a rodeo. Well, we are getting into hot water there. I have the same concern about subclause (2), as to the game park. Again we have the problem of a person promoting a game park. I am not sure whether the amendment Mr Stevenson is to move affects subclause 18(2).
Mr Moore: No.
MR HUMPHRIES: It does not affect it. He says that it does not. He is moving the amendment. I assume that he is right. Again we have the problem with the game park. I am not sure whether Mr Moore touched on this point, but what about the person with a bumper sticker on the back of their car saying, "Visit the such-and-such game park"?
Mr Berry: He should not have it on his car. It is outrageous.
MR HUMPHRIES: Okay. Let us compromise here. He should not have the bumper sticker on his car. I agree, Mr Berry. For the sake of compromise, let us agree with that. Do you also agree with me that he should not be liable to a term of imprisonment because of the bumper sticker he has on his car?
Mr Connolly: Nor should the boy who steals the peach be liable for 10 years. This is a silly argument you people keep running.
MR HUMPHRIES: No, you have missed the point. You are making this a punishable offence. You have to read this in parts. It is an offence under subclause 18(2) for a person to promote a game park. The maximum penalty is $10,000 or one year in gaol. As I said before, I really cannot conceive of any promotion, no matter how grandiose, no matter how repeated, that warrants imprisonment because this jurisdiction alone, in the entire Australian panoply of jurisdictions, has decided that it is going to make game parks and rodeos illegal. We are the only jurisdiction to do that.
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