Page 990 - Week 04 - Wednesday, 31 March 1993
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However, the lack of rigorous parliamentary law reform and review of ACT law under Commonwealth administration was reflected in the fact that our legislation was littered with a number of quaint statutes. Many of these inappropriate laws remain. Let me give you just three examples. Our local tourist industry is still regulated, in some respects, by medieval law. Public health regulations, while prohibiting chickens and horses from entering bakeries, do not prohibit cats, cattle or geese, which is something you should contemplate when next buying some bread. Canberrans are prohibited from chiselling more than 91 characters onto their gravestones. However, lack of Commonwealth effort was also reflected in the noticeable absence of laws that addressed the modern challenges of competition policy and social justice.
Mr Cornwell: Socialist justice again; here we go.
MR CONNOLLY: Some of us on this side of the house think it is an important concept, Mr Cornwell. Prior to self-government, Canberrans relied on the Commonwealth departments that administered the Territory to reform ACT law. The departments were unable to fulfil that responsibility because of a lack of resources devoted by governments. For much of the period prior to self-government, the development of ACT law was not a top priority for the Commonwealth Government and it was rightly criticised by a number of sources. As far back as 1962, Justice Joske of the Supreme Court of the ACT criticised the archaic state of the Territory's criminal law. In 1964 and 1965 the Canberra Times ran a series of articles on the need to update our law. Members of parliament from the ACT campaigned strongly in favour of establishing an independent law reform process for the ACT.
Finally, in the face of increasing pressure, the Commonwealth Government established a Law Reform Commission for the ACT. The first chairperson, Justice Blackburn of the ACT Supreme Court, was dedicated to ACT law reform but was not given the support he needed by the Commonwealth Parliament, in terms either of resources or legislative commitment. Notwithstanding its operational difficulties, the work of that commission was impressive and its eight reports were scholarly and thorough. The report now before the Assembly considers all the unimplemented recommendations of the Blackburn commission. The recommendations contained in all but one of the reports produced by the Blackburn commission were overlooked by the legislature until the mid-1980s. Some of the problems of ACT law identified by the Blackburn commission continued to be neglected until self-government, notably those relating to landlords and tenants and the guardianship and management of the property of mentally infirm persons. Only now are some of these important issues being examined in the ACT. The reports of the Blackburn commission set the groundwork for these reviews.
The inadequacy of the pre-self-government law reform process in the ACT was further highlighted by the growing number of relevant law reform initiatives coming out of New South Wales under the direction of the New South Wales Law Reform Commission. The New South Wales Law Reform Commission, which considers aspects of a body of law which is very similar to that in the ACT, has released some 26 reports in the last 10 years. Many of the issues raised in those reports have not been addressed within the ACT before this report.
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