Page 3899 - Week 15 - Tuesday, 15 December 1992
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CRIMES (AMENDMENT) BILL (NO. 3) 1992
Debate resumed from 10 December 1992, on motion by Mr Connolly:
That this Bill be agreed to in principle.
MR HUMPHRIES (8.06): Madam Speaker, I rise to indicate that the Liberal Party will support this Bill. This is a very simple piece of legislation. It states in its pertinent part, quite simply, that a person shall not fight with another person in a public place. That is a fairly simple and straightforward piece of - - -
Mr Berry: That is going to knock us about here, isn't it?
MR HUMPHRIES: I do not think that includes the Assembly, Mr Berry.
We see a great deal of merit in a piece of legislation like this which answers what I think we would all acknowledge to be a serious problem in public places in the ACT at the present time, particularly areas such as Civic. That problem is that the ACT's Civic night spots and areas around the drinking establishments have become increasingly difficult from a law and order point of view in recent months. We have seen what appears to be a serious escalation in the level of violence and unruly behaviour in those places, and an increasing level of concern on the part of not only ordinary citizens but the police themselves about the extent to which the problem is getting out of hand. I must say that I am pleased to see that the Government has reacted so quickly to that problem by proceeding with legislation of this kind. The Liberal Party is supportive because it has argued for some time that an appropriate response to a serious rise in crime is to provide for a meaningful increase, where appropriate, in the powers of police in the Territory to deal with that crime.
The offence of street fighting is not new on the statute books. It did appear in the Crimes Act, I think, until about eight years ago, at which time it was removed, with a number of other pieces of legislation, in a wave of clearing out the statute books. It was seen at the time to be inappropriate in a society which was evolving new and better ways of dealing with problems, and we had a very great consciousness about the civil liberties of citizens.
Ms Follett: We still do.
MR HUMPHRIES: Indeed, as the Chief Minister interjects, we still do have that concern. I think that we have also reached, with the introduction of this Bill, an understanding of the fact that liberties cut both ways. Whereas one person has the right to engage in behaviour which is fairly unrestrained up to a point in places like the Civic Centre of Canberra, others have an equally important right to move around in those places without any fear of intimidation or physical violence. Regrettably, that balance has been a little bit one-sided in the past, and I believe that this Bill will provide our police with the proper ammunition to deal with that problem and restore some kind of balance.
As I understand the problem, as stated by the Minister, we have seen difficulties with the police coming onto the scene of a fracas not knowing exactly how it started. Because no individual involved in the altercation was prepared to lay charges, it was very hard for the police to discern who exactly had been assaulting whom. In the circumstances it has caused the police some difficulties.
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