Page 1895 - Week 07 - Wednesday, 16 June 1993
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Mr Connolly: In the Canberra Times.
MR MOORE: The Canberra Times; I knew that I had seen it somewhere. Mr Humphries was showing his skill on a skateboard. He has a way to go, but certainly the picture presented in the Canberra Times showed a very unusual stance on a skateboard, one that I imagine people would like to emulate if they possibly could. With a skateboard going in one direction and Mr Humphries going in the other, it is probably a quite difficult thing to repeat.
It seems to me that there are some very serious issues surrounding this, where the solution, "Just ban them; just kick them out; just do not let them have fun", is an entirely inappropriate solution. Ms Szuty has circulated a motion, which no doubt she will speak to, to refer this Bill to the Standing Committee on Legal Affairs for inquiry. I am going to support it, but I have to overcome my inclination to reject this Bill outright. The reason I am prepared to support the motion in the long run is that I have been convinced by Ms Szuty that we might get something positive out of this, something positive along the lines that Mr Connolly is suggesting. The Legal Affairs Committee may be able to take a broader view of the issue and say, "What positive things do we need to do to ensure that our kids do not perceive themselves to be rejected, that they do not get offside with the police?".
Mr Connolly raised the very important issue that young people's dealings with the police ought to be in as positive a light as possible. We are already putting a lot of effort into that. I know that Constable Steve is at the school my children attend and is working very hard on that sort of crime prevention strategy. That is the sort of strategy that could well be terribly undermined by a piece of legislation that requires the police to be on the backs of kids and get a negative relationship rather than a positive relationship. These are issues Mr Cornwell seems very relaxed about dismissing easily. I hope that I am not misrepresenting him. I believe that they are absolutely critical to ensure that we get a positive feeling amongst our young people in our society and that we can provide for them a positive approach to understanding the needs and fears of other people.
MR DE DOMENICO (11.39): I rise briefly to make some comments on the interjections and the comments made by Mr Berry and also on some of the comments made by Mr Moore. Let us, first of all, talk about the reality of the situation. We are not all about abandoning and rejecting children and all the other things Mr Moore was alluding to. We are talking about things such as Mr Moore going and talking to some of the retailers around the shopping centre near Lake Ginninderra College - the Kentucky Fried Chicken outlet, for example. Mr Wood's department and Mr Connolly's department spent a lot of money in planning and urban services to make sure that the area looks attractive, and it is landscaped and all that sort of thing. By the way, there is a skating rink very close by, Mr Moore, in case you have not noticed.
Notwithstanding that we have one of the best facilities in the country very close by, there are still a serious number of complaints by those retailers, who from time to time find their windows smashed by some child, as you call them, running into the window on a skateboard. We have also had some complaints from people that go there shopping, and let us keep in mind that the area is a designated shopping area. It has been built as a shopping area, not as a skateboard rink.
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