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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 8 Hansard (27 June) . . Page.. 2302 ..

Mr Berry: But less than before.

MRS CARNELL: Actually, no - and that is a very interesting comment, because the legislation that we are amending tonight is actually deregulating the current situation. Mr Speaker, although those people opposite allowed people to open their shops at any time they wanted to, it was actually contrary to the law. They did not actually ever amend the legislation to allow supermarkets or, for that matter, anybody else, to trade, selling all goods at all times. In fact, the legislation that was in place, to my knowledge - and I am sure that Mr Humphries and Mr De Domenico will correct me if it is not the case - still talked about exempt goods. We still have legislation in place in this Territory that talks about things such as food being exempt, and, therefore, you can trade 24 hours a day. I think hardware is in that bracket as well. But remember the bad old days of sheets over the towels, the socks and all the rest of the things in your supermarkets. That is what our current legislation says, Mr Osborne, and that is the legislation that we are, hopefully, amending today, to allow for the most deregulated shopping environment, legally, in this country. I am confident that under the national competition policy that would be thought to be an extremely good approach.

MS McRAE: My question is to Mr Stefaniak in his capacity as Minister for Education, and it relates to that now rather bedraggled looking and sad sight - the school that Mr Stefaniak so ruthlessly closed last year - in Charnwood, of course. Minister, it is now the end of June and almost nine months since the school was first proposed for closure.

Mr Hird: He did not close it. You know that he did not close it.

MR SPEAKER: Order! Ms McRae is asking a question.

MS McRAE: Yes; he did not do it by himself. You helped him, Mr Hird.

Mr Hird: No, I did not. I take exception to that.

MS McRAE: You did so.

Members interjected.

MR SPEAKER: Order! The Assembly will come to order. Ms McRae is entitled to ask her question in silence.

MS McRAE: At a public meeting recently, Mr Stefaniak, you said that a full and comprehensive consultative process was about to be had with the entire community - the whole 6,000 of them, not just the 60 that were at that public meeting. You gave everyone the impression that that would happen rather soon. Minister, it is now nearly the end of June. When are those consultations going to take place? Are they ever going to take place, or do you just want to forget the whole thing altogether?

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