Page 2655 - Week 09 - Wednesday, 24 August 1994
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same thing. Considering the process that this has been through, Madam Speaker, I will be delighted to withdraw the legislation that I have put down, in order to adopt this system of legislation and the code of practice which has the backing of the legislation and, therefore, has teeth.
There is some debate in the community as to whether the code of practice should be a schedule to the Bill or subject to modification by the Minister, in which case the Assembly, as part of our normal processes, could disallow or amend the modified code. Ms Szuty and I have a difference of opinion on what is the best way to handle it. Perhaps we will come to that when, with the Assembly's leave, I read the speech Ms Szuty cannot make herself.
Mr Humphries drew our attention to the fact that many small businesses in Canberra have been forced to close because of unscrupulous behaviour by landlords whose conduct has been allowed by a series of governments that have failed to deliver this sort of legislation. So the legislation that is finally before us is indeed welcome. Mr Whalan, in one of his early speeches in the Assembly, drew attention to the fact that he was going to do something about it, and no doubt he is still trying to do something about it.
The situation at the Campbell shops described by Mr Humphries brought the matter home to me. They are my local shops and I often use them when I am taking my children to or from school as well as at other times. The behaviour of one of the landlords in the Campbell shops was simply appalling. That landlord has since opened his own supermarket in those shops. I have not yet been into that supermarket, in spite of the fact that it has been open now for probably the best part of six months, because, if I can possibly avoid it, I simply will not deal with a person I consider so low.
The legislation is designed to send a clear message to landlords and tenants. Mr Humphries made an appropriate point. Of course, a huge number of landlords within this community conduct their businesses as reasonable people, but there is an inequity of power between tenants and landlords. This legislation is designed to address that inequity so that tenants have the right, as they should, to conduct their businesses and to plan their futures with some stability. Madam Speaker, the legislation now before the Assembly is important in ensuring that we assist small business. The Chief Minister has certainly made many statements in the public arena regarding her Government's support for small business. While small business is continually under threat, it cannot take the risk of employing more people. This legislation will play a role in assisting the employment of more people in the ACT.
It is important, though, that I talk about the reservations that I have regarding some parts of the Bill. When I talk about the Bill, I talk about the Bill and the draft code of conduct as one. In fact, most of my comments relate to the draft code of conduct. I have raised these points with Mr Connolly, and I hope that we can ensure that this Assembly as a whole manages to deal with not only what is in front of us but also these other vital points. My first reservation is that, because the tenants who are most in need of this legislation are currently those renting retail space, the legislation ought to be able to address inequity for all tenants and ought to apply to existing leases as well as to future leases. There are those who will argue that to apply the legislation to agreements that have been made in the past will make it retrospective legislation. In a sense that is true,
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