Page 1440 - Week 05 - Wednesday, 11 May 1994
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
Mr Humphries questioned why we publish the Gazette anyway, because it is true to say that most members of the community are not to be seen on an ACTION bus avidly reading the ACT Gazette. If they ever did that, they certainly do not do it now. Given that we are progressively putting our Acts and regulations on a computer database, given that generally speaking people who want to access the Gazette are from the business houses or the legal profession, who will be no doubt subscribing to our on-line Gazette service, and given, as the Chief Minister has announced, that we are experimenting with the Austouch computer terminals in the shopfronts and in the shopping malls - and members may have seen the demonstration of that at the Royal Canberra Show earlier this year - we may well be in a position, not next month and maybe not even next year but in the foreseeable future, where we can dispense with the Gazette.
We could instead publish the information electronically. This would give access to Acts and regulations of the Assembly. Commercial interests who need to know the state of the laws in the ACT would be billed for accessing this information through an electronic mail system. A member of the public who may just want to know what the law is could wander into a shopping mall or ACT government shopfront and pull the information up on an Austouch machine. So it may be that in the future we can satisfy both Mr Humphries's query about why we bother with the Gazette anyway and Mr Moore's concern, which is right in principle, that the public should have access to data, even though we know that in practice most members of the public are not greatly interested. It may well be that technological advances will allow us to provide that information in that way in the not too distant future. I thank members for their support.
Question resolved in the affirmative.
Bill agreed to in principle.
Leave granted to dispense with the detail stage.
Bill agreed to.
BUILDINGS (DESIGN AND SITING) (AMENDMENT) BILL 1994
Debate resumed from 14 April 1994, on motion by Mr Wood:
That this Bill be agreed to in principle.
Debate (on motion by Mr Cornwell) adjourned.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .