Page 1256 - Week 05 - Tuesday, 11 May 1993
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What we could do there is communicate with them and suggest that if they are going to bring in new regulations they let us know about it, and we can decide whether we feel that the ACT should also agree with those regulations. If we do and there is a problem about them coming in at different days, we could say, "Look, let us make it the first of next month", each of the times that we agree on regulations. It would appear that that would be a very simple method - there are no doubt others - of solving the problem, that problem being that the New South Wales Parliament could change ACT law.
The other point I would make once again is that, if there had been extensive consultation with the kick boxing and other industries associated with fighting, a lot of the problems that we have seen tonight and over the last couple of months would not have occurred.
MR MOORE (9.43): In attempting to defend his position on this Bill, Mr Deputy Speaker, the Minister has pointed to a number of people and said, "Yes, you are just going to go for violence and you are going to be advocates of violence". The shallowness of his understanding would be mind-boggling if it had not been demonstrated so many other times. The Minister then went on to argue, in response to my speech, that I simply advocate a free market in such things, which contrasts with my attitude to tobacco advertising. The only thing I could imagine that he was referring to - I have heard this sort of statement made before, incorrectly - was my stance in particular on illicit drugs. I would like to clarify this. I have never advocated a free market. On the contrary, I advocate a system of control because we do not have control at the moment.
Mr Berry: You are a bit sensitive. I did not say a word.
MR MOORE: I am leading to a point. If you concentrate for a short while you might be able to get a slightly more in-depth understanding. Mr Deputy Speaker, that is why I so strongly support restrictions on the most lethal of drugs that people use, tobacco. It is there that I supported restrictions in terms of advertising but not the full banning. It is the same here, Mr Deputy Speaker. For the good of the general public, recognising the violence of this sport, I support the Boxing Control Bill in everything other than clause 20. All the mechanisms that are in place are there to support it. It is mind-boggling that the Minister has such a shallow understanding of it. That understanding was demonstrated by his very example of using football and chasing a bladder up and down the field. If he wants to be consistent he would need to ban gridiron because in that sport, although the original goal is to get the ball down the field, the players concentrate on each other in order to stop the other player going through. That is the particular goal of the players other than the particular player with the ball.
Mr Deputy Speaker, the most appropriate thing for us to do is to support the amendments of Ms Szuty, and then to support this Bill as a whole, in order to protect our community in the best possible way from violence, instead of having such a shallow understanding as the Minister has demonstrated and increasing the violence, particularly the underground violence, in the community. That will be the result of what he is proposing.
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