Page 1894 - Week 07 - Wednesday, 16 June 1993
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I can give you some examples of what I think is in his sights. The very dangerous backyard swing is likely to be the subject of the next piece of legislation. As you know, not only are they dangerous because they swing back and forth and somebody might walk by, but, to use Mrs Carnell's words, people can be hit and badly scared. There are also swings in some of our parks. Do you know the noise they make? It is absolutely disconcerting.
Mr Kaine: That is self-inflicted. You can inflict that sort of stuff on yourself if you want to.
MR MOORE: I hear an interjection from Mr Kaine that that is self-inflicted, but that is not the case. You might be just walking across your park while a swing is swinging away and you could be either hit or badly scared, and it happens to toddlers. I am warning you about the slippery slope. This is where Mr Humphries is heading.
Mr Kaine: The slippery slide is next.
MR MOORE: That interjection brings me to what is sometimes called a slippery slide; in South Australia we used to call it a slippery dip - I am not quite sure why. They also are a source of fun for children. I would not be surprised to see that in the pipeline, following this piece of legislation. Do not forget that pipelines are quite common now in children's playgrounds, and I am sure that there will be a reason why they will need to be banned as well, probably because visually they are threatening. There are also seesaws and a whole series of other things. The critical factor that ties all these together is that word "fun". When people are having fun, we must make sure that they are away from us.
On a slightly more serious note, I would like to take up a couple of things Mr Connolly said about taking a positive approach to our young people. I congratulate him for that, but I would ask him to consider very carefully, in taking this positive approach, the extent to which that positive approach will be seen as such by young people if you move them away from the centre of the area where all the activity is. There may be a sense of rejection, and we have to deal with rejection. A lot of the people we are dealing with in the chess pit at the moment are unemployed and are already suffering problems in terms of rejection.
Mr Cornwell: You are unbelievable.
MR MOORE: Mr Cornwell interjects that this is unbelievable. He does not understand the full ramifications of somebody feeling rejected. It is an issue that needs to be taken into account. We should be trying to imply to our young people that we welcome them, but let us see - and this, I think, is Mr Connolly's point - whether they can actually carry out their activity in a way that suits everybody. I understand that. If it is possible for them to carry out their activity centrally, it could be a great tourist attraction. It already is on the Gold Coast, where sometimes a real feature is made of very talented young people who can do fantastic things on their skateboards and their rollerblades. I recall seeing on television the picture of Mr Humphries - - -
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