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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 8 Hansard (27 June) . . Page.. 2439 ..

MS HORODNY (12.30 am): The Greens will not be supporting the sunset clause. We do not believe there is any real need for it. The timing of the sunset clause is two years from now, and that obviously is after the next election. We also believe that there is always an opportunity for a review of any legislation.

Ms McRae: We will repeal the stupid thing as we get into government. We do not need a sunset clause.

MR SPEAKER: Order! Ms Horodny has the floor.

MS HORODNY: Indeed, reviewing legislation is what we do here every day, so we do not see any need for this particular clause. We will not be supporting it.

MR MOORE (12.31 am): The reason why the committee that I was on recommended that the mental health legislation have a sunset clause was that we genuinely believed it was not going to do the job that we wanted it to do. We thought it was an improvement over the - - -

MR SPEAKER: Relevance, Mr Moore.

MR MOORE: Sunset clauses, Mr Speaker. We are speaking about sunset clauses. Indeed, Mrs Carnell raised this very issue and I am responding to it.

MR SPEAKER: Yes, but not in relation to this matter; but go on.

MR MOORE: With reference to mental health legislation. The point I am getting to, Mr Speaker, is that when Mrs Carnell raised this issue it was about the fact that we understood that the mental health legislation was considerably deficient, and that there was proposed national legislation that we needed to have a look at. We understood that the mental health legislation was really not going to work anywhere near as well as we thought. They know the same thing, Mr Speaker. They know it is not going to work very well at all. They know in their heart of hearts they are going to sort of meet their election commitments. They went out there and campaigned, and, after all, the SOS group gave them a pretty good wrap-up at the election. Now they are going to pretend that they are going to deliver, provided that they do not cause any pain to their own vested interest groups. The fact that 300-odd small, ordinary people lose their jobs is a penalty.

The relationship between the two is very clear. We knew that that legislation had limitations and they know - this proves it more than anything, Mr Speaker - that this legislation is limited as well. Hearing that business about sunset clauses being Liberal Party policy, I am appalled. I am appalled at the number of pieces of legislation that you people have allowed to go through this house that are not consistent with your policy.

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