Page 2062 - Week 07 - Thursday, 16 June 1994
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Credit Tribunal
MR HUMPHRIES: Madam Speaker, my question is to the Minister responsible for consumer affairs. Section 192 of the Credit Act requires the Minister to appoint three people to the Credit Tribunal. That being the case, why does the Credit Tribunal consist at this time of only one person? Is this why an application for a finance broker's licence from a firm called Capital Business Services Pty Ltd, which was lodged in February of this year, still has not been considered? Does the Minister understand that his tardiness in not appointing members to the tribunal has cost this firm the ability to trade for at least the last four months? Will he apologise to this Canberra business for that delay?
MR CONNOLLY: Madam Speaker, a person, I presume from that company, rang my office this morning and screamed abuse. I presume that it was the same person Mr Humphries has spoken to. He is quite wrong in suggesting that there has been a gap of some four months in the personnel of the tribunal. It is true that for the last couple of weeks the tribunal has not been fully appointed. We did appoint a magistrate to chair the tribunal; but the appointments of the members, which lapsed some weeks ago, have not yet been clarified. They will be clarified in due course. I would expect that Mr Humphries and Mr Moore might even get a telephone call about it because, the Assembly having passed legislation which requires such appointments to be consulted on, I will be consulting them when the Government has clarified those appointments.
The gap, the hiatus, in appointments, on the information available to me, is only of the last couple of weeks. Other reasons may well have been behind a long process of scrutiny. Obviously, obtaining a credit licence is not a mere formality. There is a process involved in it. This gentleman, who seemed to be deeply agitated in his call to my office this morning - - -
Mr De Domenico: Understandably so.
Mr Humphries: I am not surprised.
MR CONNOLLY: As I say, it is not true to say that there has been a gap of some four months in the appointments and that the lack of appointments is the reason why he has not been approved. His application is going through a system. It often may take a long time to approve a company for a credit licence.
Mr De Domenico: It is the slowness of the system.
MR CONNOLLY: No doubt Mr De Domenico would expect the ACT Government to be careful in granting approvals for people who provide credit. It is a quite serious process.
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