Page 2950 - Week 10 - Wednesday, 14 September 1994
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ELECTRICITY (AMENDMENT) BILL 1994
Debate resumed from 19 May 1994, on motion by Mr Lamont:
That this Bill be agreed to in principle.
MR DE DOMENICO (5.14): Madam Speaker, the Opposition will be supporting the Electricity (Amendment) Bill 1994. The purpose of the Bill is severalfold, but the two main reasons are the desire to bring electrical licensing arrangements in the ACT into line with national developments - that is the expression widely used to refer to mutual recognition between States and Territories - and to tidy up a variety of loose ends. The purpose of the Bill will be achieved by amending the Electricity Act 1971 to provide for the establishment of an Electrical Licensing Board, for restricted electrical licences and for electrician permits or electrical permits. The Bill also provides for the right of application to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal for the review of board decisions and generally brings electrical licensing provisions into line with agreements at the national level. The Bill is purely and simply one of those mutual recognition measures. I think the ACT at this stage is the only jurisdiction that does not have this sort of legislation. I would like to thank the Minister and officers of ACTEW for the comprehensive briefings they gave us on this Bill. As I said, it is a quite simple mechanical mutual recognition Bill, and the Opposition is happy to support it.
MS SZUTY (5.15): Madam Speaker, in speaking in this debate on the Electricity (Amendment) Bill, I should say at the outset that I requested a delay in the consideration of this Bill by the Assembly as I wanted time to consult with a number of people and to be fully briefed on the Bill's implications and ramifications. Australia as a whole has an enviable electrical safety record, and that of the ACT is second to none in Australia. I was particularly concerned to ensure that the provisions of this Bill did not have the potential to compromise this outstanding record, a record of which ACT Electricity and Water and all Canberrans can be justly proud. I, too, would particularly like to thank Darrell Hills and Ian Macara of ACT Electricity and Water for the thorough briefing which they provided to me on the provisions of this Bill and for the information which they subsequently provided to me.
I understand, Madam Speaker, that this Bill is based on mutual recognition principles and that all jurisdictions in Australia have agreed to adopt the central provisions that the Bill contains. This Bill establishes an Electrical Licensing Board, allows the right of appeal against board decisions, allows tradespersons other than electricians to hold restricted electrical licences to undertake limited electrical work which is incidental to their trades, allows for permits for people who are qualified, but lacking experience, to undertake electrical work under supervision, and recognises that a person holding an electricians licence or permit in another jurisdiction is entitled to hold the corresponding licence or permit in the ACT.
Madam Speaker, I particularly welcome the Bill's contribution to micro-economic reform in codifying the agreement reached at the national level by Ministers for labour to introduce restricted electrical licences for tradespersons who are not electricians - for example, plumbers who need to do limited electrical work when repairing
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