SCRUTINY OF BILLS AND SUBORDINATE LEGISLATION -STANDING COMMITTEE

Report and Statement

MR OSBORNE: Mr Speaker, I offer my apologies for not being here earlier. I had to go to the doctor with my child for immunisation shots. I present Report No. 11 of 1995 of the Standing Committee on Scrutiny of Bills and Subordinate Legislation and I ask for leave to make a brief statement on the report.

Leave granted.

MR OSBORNE: Report No. 11 of 1995 contains the committee's comments on one Bill. I commend the report to the Assembly.

EXECUTIVE BUSINESS - PRECEDENCE

Motion (by Mr Humphries) agreed to:

That Executive business be called on.

FAIR TRADING (PETROLEUM RETAIL MARKETING) BILL 1995

Debate resumed from 19 September 1995, on motion by Mr Humphries:

That this Bill be agreed to in principle.

MR CONNOLLY (11.45): This is a Bill with some very substantial effects, or at least some very substantial legal effects, that has been brought on for debate a mere two days after its introduction. I would like to indicate in advance of the arguments that, while the Labor Party is prepared to support this Bill in principle today, we are not prepared to support its full passage today. We will move to adjourn debate at the detail stage because of some concerns about some fairly substantial amendments that were circulated at the time the Bill was introduced. I acknowledge that Mr Humphries did offer the Opposition the courtesy of an advance look at the Bill on Thursday of last week. It is apparent from the drafting of the amendments that, at the time the Government showed us the Bill, they had not yet settled on the amendments, so I make no criticism for our not being shown the amendments.

To some extent we must say that there is more than a tad of politics involved in the timing of this legislation. It emerged last week, but it became clear on Tuesday that the much promised 1c a litre a year reduction in petrol tax that had been promised loud and long last year by Mr Humphries, by Mr Stefaniak and by others was to be abandoned.

Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .