Page 3388 - Week 11 - Wednesday, 13 October 1993
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MR WOOD (Minister for Education and Training, Minister for the Arts and Minister for the Environment, Land and Planning) (11.04): Madam Speaker, I have indicated before that the Government will be supporting Mr Westende's Bill. We have agreed on certain amendments to consolidate and improve the Bill as presented. I think the Assembly is pretty much as one on the way we are treating this matter. All members regard it as quite unacceptable that dogs should be free to roam in the streets and, in particular, in a position where they can attack, sometimes very brutally, the ordinary citizen. With the original Bill I introduced a couple of years ago to bring in quite tough measures, Ms Szuty's amendments, and now Mr Westende's amendments, I do not think we have ever had disagreement. It is an indication of a concerted effort to see that the problem of dog attacks in particular and roaming dogs generally is removed.
The provisions already in the Act are strong, and they will become stronger. We keep working at it, and we now have a Dog Control Act that surely is amongst the strongest, if not the strongest, in Australia. We have introduced on-the-spot fines, and they are increasing in number. We are launching more prosecutions. More than that, the fines that are now being imposed are more substantial. Along with this, there is a great deal of publicity. I cannot imagine that there is anybody in the community who is not aware that there is a problem and that we are taking serious steps to contain the problem.
Let me tell you this: I do not think it is working yet. There is no evidence that there is any particular change on the part of many members of the community. I say that it is not working yet because I think measures such as this take quite some time to have an effect. We are looking to bring about a cultural change, a change to the way people think. There is obviously a large number of people who think they can have a dog and not have to take much responsibility for that dog, that the dog can pretty well do as it likes. So we are addressing a cultural change, and any measure to change the culture is one that has to be worked through very slowly. It takes some time.
I do admit that I thought the measures would work rather more rapidly than they appear to be doing. With the amount of publicity it has had, I thought it would become apparent in a fairly short space of time that people were taking greater control of their dogs. Certainly that is the case with responsible owners. It is now commonplace to see people walking their dogs on a lead beyond their own boundaries. That is almost the norm, but it is still commonplace to see dogs running around uncontrolled. A great number of people in our society have attended to the problem, but it is very difficult to get to those other people who have not.
We have in the budget provided money to employ two new dog patrol people. Very importantly, we have provided $50,000 for an education program, which I think is going to be the key. Perhaps in the overall context of trying to change the culture of some people, $50,000 is not a great amount of money, but it is a start and it is a means by which we can get to those people. We will try to target it as well as we can, to convince irresponsible dog owners that they have to take control of their animals, that they have to be responsible for them. It is a start. Madam Speaker, I will be bringing in further amendments, perhaps later this year, although it might be into next year before I can get them into the Assembly, that will further toughen this legislation. Let me say that we will continue on the path of trying to change the approach that a few people have to control of the animals they own.
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