Page 4658 - Week 15 - Wednesday, 15 December 1993
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That is the extent of the power referred to in the Victorian legislation. Similarly, in New South Wales, section 16 of the Food Act of 1989 says:
An inspector may seize and detain, or take possession of, any food, appliance, package or labelling or advertising material, or any other thing at all, which the inspector reasonably believes is evidence that an offence against this Act or the regulations is being or has been committed.
There is no question there of any future offence capacity being handed to health inspectors. Again, section 28 of the Queensland Food Act of 1981 says that an authorised officer:
... may seize and detain for such time as is necessary any article found by means of or in relation to which he believes on reasonable grounds this Act has been contravened.
That is in the past tense. Subsection 29(4) of the Tasmanian legislation - I am not sure what the name of the Act is - says:
Subject to section 62A an inspector may ...
(d) seize any animal, or carcass, or any such article wherever found which is, or which he has reasonable grounds for believing to be dangerous or injurious to health, or unwholesome, or unfit for use, or to be a prohibited article, and any package or vessel enclosing or containing any such article; ...
Again, it says "is unwholesome" or "is dangerous", not "will be in the future". The Western Australian Health Act of 1911, section 246ZB, says:
... a health surveyor may -
(a) enter any premises or other place in or at which he believes on reasonable grounds any article is sold or prepared, packaged, stored, handled, served, or supplied for sale and may therein ... seize and detain for such time as is necessary any article found by means of, or in relation to, which he believes on reasonable grounds an offence under this Part has been committed ...
Madam Speaker, it is clear that the situation is that there are no other jurisdictions in Australia, at least at the State level, to the best of our inquiries, which provide for anything like the power which is being provided for in this Bill.
Mr Berry: What about the councils and shires and so on?
MR HUMPHRIES: Mr Berry interjects something about shires or local government legislation. We have made exhaustive inquiries of local government organisations in Australia. The Northern Territory advises that they do not have any local government organisations conducting inspections, except for, I think, Alice Springs. But in Alice Springs they do not have the power to seize goods which they believe will, in the future, be used in committing an offence.
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