Page 3192 - Week 10 - Thursday, 16 September 1993
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
the will of the Assembly was that kick boxing should be treated similarly to fist boxing, and the amendments passed in the Assembly were designed to ensure that there was some regulation. However, they were flawed because they did not do that. There is no question about this. A proper study of the sport was not conducted and amateur kick boxing was left out.
I was criticised about the event at the Albert Hall. The majority of people in this Assembly said, "Government, go away and regulate kick boxing. We want it regulated".
Mr Humphries: We said, "Government, go away".
MR BERRY: Righto. This particular sport - - -
Mr Cornwell: We said that we did not want it banned here.
MR BERRY: So you did not want it banned. You did not care if it was not regulated either. We will come back to that in a minute. We had the situation where I was instructed by this Assembly to regulate kick boxing. We had an event that was proposed to be held over at the Albert Hall and which could not be regulated because the law that was passed in the Assembly was inadequate. The only provision that allowed that event to proceed was the general provision under which I could give exemptions.
Mr De Domenico: How long did it take you to give that?
MR BERRY: I was acting under your instructions, Mr De Domenico. You, amongst others, instructed, in essence, that kick boxing ought to be regulated, that there ought to be no more deregulated events. That is what you said. My position was that there ought not be any more unregulated events either. But there was such a furore out there. Again, all the band wagon seats were full. People were saying, "What a terrible thing it is that the Government is trying to stop this boxing event and the young fellow they have been running the fundraiser for is going to be disadvantaged". As I said, all the seats on the band wagon were full. People who had said that they wanted to regulate it were now saying that they wanted it unregulated. They wanted the war to go on in the Albert Hall. I disagreed with that. I wanted to have a regulated sport.
Section 12 of the Boxing Control Act provides that a person shall not engage in an amateur boxing contest as a boxer or participate as an official unless that person is a member of the Amateur Boxing Union of Australia or an affiliated organisation. Whilst it is possible for kick boxers to be members of the union, that organisation exists as the national controlling body for amateur fist boxing and the vast majority of amateur kick boxers have no association with it. So, effectively, despite the amendments, amateur kick boxing contests could not be approved, according to the terms of the Act. As the majority of kick boxing contests are amateur ones, as I have explained, it has been necessary to present the Boxing Control (Amendment) Bill in order to ensure that the will of the Assembly is put into effect. What I am doing now is doing exactly what you wanted me to do.
Mr Cornwell: Yes, three-and-a-half months after we instructed you to do so.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .