Page 4664 - Week 15 - Wednesday, 15 December 1993
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The ACT Opposition managed to contact the Northern Territory, Tasmania and South Australia on at least two occasions each in the space of the last week. Why couldn't you? What is the problem? Is there a bar on the phones on the fifth floor or something?
Mr Cornwell: No; they were all tied up doing factional deals. That is what the problem was.
MR HUMPHRIES: They must have been. Is Fortress Follett on the fifth floor so impregnable that you cannot get telephone lines out? For goodness sake!
Mr De Domenico: But you can get above the lines, though, can you not?
MR HUMPHRIES: Yes, you can get above the line, but you cannot get under the wire. Madam Speaker, this is quite pathetic. Frankly, if the advice is, and it is not clear from this document, that there are powers like those proposed to be exercised by Mr Berry in his amendment, it is simply wrong, because the legislation I have quoted does not give that power and the advice from the local government associations of those States also indicates that there are no local governments with those powers either. Again I say: If we are wrong, show us the case where we are wrong. Cite the example. Pull out Prahran local municipality, pull out Bourke's municipal council, and show us where it happens. You cannot, because it does not.
MR BERRY (Minister for Health, Minister for Industrial Relations and Minister for Sport) (4.40): Mr Humphries has his little earnest suit on again and is out there busy twisting matters. He caught himself this time because he made a quick reference to "Division 2 - Health officers' powers - Entry to premises" as being some sort of resolution to the problem once they remove "has been or will be" from proposed subsection 19YA(2). What Mr Humphries forgot is that it is the Liberals' intent in their circulated amendments to remove the powers of entry to premises under proposed paragraph 19Y(B)(1)(d), which says:
if the health officer believes on reasonable grounds that the circumstances are of such seriousness and urgency as to require immediate entry to the premises without the authority of a warrant.
Of course, the twisters intend to pluck that out of there. They want to take that power away.
Mr Humphries: I told you that yesterday.
MR BERRY: Yes, that is right, but you went straight to that as one of your defences today. You are not going to twist that one because you intend to pull that power off too. That in itself is an important power that ought not go as well. Mr Humphries can twist as much as he likes, but the fact of the matter is that the whole of that part of the legislation is dependent to one degree or another on the prospective offence that might be committed, as identified in the interpretation section 19YA. Do not wander at will all over the clause, just plucking and twisting, Mr Humphries.
Mr Humphries: Do not say it too quickly.
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