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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 8 Hansard (27 June) . . Page.. 2432 ..

Clause 6

MR MOORE (12.08 am): Mr Speaker, clause 6 contains the other part of the amendment that I identified earlier, but it also goes further. It is, in fact, the most important part of this legislation. It is a fundamental part of what drives the trading hours. Subclause 6(2) provides:

An instrument under subsection (1) is a disallowable instrument for the purposes of section 10 of the Subordinate Laws Act ...

When a Minister specifies periods of time during which large supermarkets generally or large supermarkets in their specified area may be open to the public it is done by regulation or by instrument. Then there is the opportunity, under the Subordinate Laws Act, for the Assembly to have a role in that issue. We can determine whether it is a reasonable thing for the supermarkets to be open, or whether the choice that the Minister specified is an appropriate choice and will identify some of the areas this Government has set.

Mr Speaker, by passing this legislation tonight, and if the Minister gazettes this within the next couple of days, the difficulty is that the use of the Subordinate Laws Act cannot come into place until our very next sitting. So there will be something like two or three months of operation before this issue can be dealt with if the Minister gets it wrong. Once the instrument is made it becomes law. I think there is a weakness in the legislation as far as control by the Assembly is concerned and the issue of a trial. This is just another weakness of this very poor legislation that is before us at the moment. If no instrument is made there is a fall-back position, the fall-back position being 7.00 am to 7.00 pm Monday to Thursday, 7.00 am to 10.00 pm Friday, 7.00 am to 7.00 pm Saturday and 7.00 am to 5.00 pm Sunday. Mr Speaker, we should understand that the Minister, simply by instrument, can change it and nobody can do anything about that if he or she, as the case may be, decides on a different approach.

Mr Humphries: Until he gazettes it. Until he tables it.

MR MOORE: Mr Humphries, if I have it wrong, by all means explain it to me, but I believe that I have explained that correctly. It seems to me that for such an experiment, with such costs and so little benefits, it is an inappropriate way to start. It is a very good reason why debate on the legislation should be adjourned now, Mr Speaker, and continued later.

Mr Berry: Do you want me to move that?

MR MOORE: Wait until I sit down.

Mr Kaine: Mr Speaker, I move:

That the question be now put.

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