Page 4676 - Week 15 - Wednesday, 7 December 1994
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Madam Speaker, Mr Humphries has made a great deal of the fact that I have raised additional issues with him at what he perceives to be a fairly late stage. I would like to comment that Mr Humphries's amendments were received very late on 5 December - just a couple of days ago. So, we have had very little time in which to look at them and comment upon them.
Mr Humphries: They are two very brief amendments.
MS FOLLETT: Although Mr Humphries comments that they are very brief amendments, it was Mr Humphries's assertion that his amendments would fix up all of my concerns with his Bill. They do not. Madam Speaker, I have continued to say that the Finance directions, which Mr Humphries was unfamiliar with, are legally enforceable mechanisms for ensuring that bills are paid on time. Mr Humphries has misunderstood, or failed to take on board, that fundamental point.
Madam Speaker, I have a further difficulty with part of what Mr Humphries is suggesting. It goes to one of his amendments, which is the declaration in proposed clause 7A that terms in a contract to which the legislation applies which provide for the payment of interest on an unpaid account are void. I believe that that could be argued to be not only unnecessary but completely undesirable, because it appears to me to be an intrusion into what could be quite normal commercial arrangements. What if the Territory and the supplier, for instance, would both prefer to forgo interest on the bill to their perceived advantage, if there were to be discounting arrangements or whatever? Madam Speaker, I think that suppliers can actually also contract to receive interest if they are concerned about the possibility of late payment. That is another arrangement that could be made between the purchaser and the supplier which Mr Humphries's Bill appears to cut across. So, I retain my concerns about Mr Humphries's legislation, Madam Speaker. I do not believe that his amendments address all of the concerns that I have.
MR MOORE (12.08): I find this part of the debate rather extraordinary, Madam Speaker. This Bill was passed in principle and has been on the table. Mr Humphries has worked to address the concerns that were raised during the debate. He discussed those amendments with me as he drew them up, and I certainly perceived them to be satisfactory. If we have problems with a Government Bill, either that Bill goes through or we put up our amendments to it. I think the same responsibility exists here. I really believe that, if there were genuine concerns that there were major difficulties with this Bill, we would see amendments from the Government, instead of simply trying to knock it off. It was quite clear that it was the intention of the Assembly to put this Bill through, because it passed the in-principle stage. If there really were those genuine concerns, if the Chief Minister believed that this was going to have such an impact on the way this Territory does business and on the way the public service operates, then I think we would see those amendments. I am afraid that I find the arguments put here today a little shallow.
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