Page 2571 - Week 09 - Wednesday, 24 August 1994
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
MR STEFANIAK: No, that is not the elephant. That was the elephant in 1992, David.
Mr Lamont: Was that the elephant that Mr De Domenico was photographed with?
MR STEFANIAK: It could have been with his elephant. It was not with mine.
Mr Lamont: Was that the one that was shot in Honolulu on Tuesday night? Was it the same elephant?
MR STEFANIAK: No. I can understand why Mr Lamont is a bit frustrated.
Mr Kaine: Madam Speaker, could we have a bit less of the cross-chat and fewer interjections?
MR STEFANIAK: I have heard, David, that when you were a nipper in Braidwood you used to nick off school to go to watch the circus. How things have changed.
MADAM SPEAKER: I do not think Mr Stefaniak even noticed that one, Mr Kaine.
MR STEFANIAK: I missed Mr Kaine's remark, Madam Speaker.
MADAM SPEAKER: Order! I realise that Mr Stefaniak is new, but I do not think he needs all this assistance. Please carry on, Mr Stefaniak.
MR STEFANIAK: It is good to be back, Madam Speaker. There are a number of other provisions which I will not go into in any great detail. Subsection 54(2) affects the conduct of a circus through a circus permit. Subsection 56(1) deals with the conditions of circus permits. My Bill simply seeks to delete subsection (2) from section 54 and to replace the reference to subsection (2) in subsection 54(4) with a reference to subsection (3). I think that even the Government, when they have a look at the second of those amendments, will realise that it fixes up a typographical error.
The effect of the exotic animals Bill, Madam Speaker, was to ban circuses using animals in the ACT. This, sadly, was not done by the Government consulting with the people concerned - the people who ran circuses and the people who had concerns about this particular issue and the banning of animals. It was also done, Madam Speaker, against the wishes of many Canberra people. My party stated at the time and still states that it is blatantly misguided ideology.
The arguments used to ban exotic animals from circuses can be logically extended, Madam Speaker, to include fish in bowls, birds in cages, horse racing and dog racing. Why did the Government not try to ban those as well? However, in fairness to the current Government, I suppose I should mention that, through VITAB, they have done their best to ban racing. Also indicative of the Government's inconsistency on this issue is the fact that it has not banned zoos. Subsection 51(1) states:
A person shall not conduct a circus without a circus permit.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .