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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 10 Hansard (3 September) . . Page.. 2955 ..
MR HUMPHRIES: We thought we had captured the dangerous radical prize here, but it seems that others are vying for that title. I am aware that the New South Wales Minister for Racing and Gaming, Mr Face, only last weekend - very well timed, I would have thought - foreshadowed a 2.00 am closing time. I want to quote what he had to say. This is what the Labor Minister for Racing and Gaming in New South Wales had to say:
While it is well known that the association between alcohol and violence is complex, it appears that one common denominator is late trading and the behaviour of people leaving premises in the early hours of the morning which can cause havoc in local streets. This behaviour includes vandalism to private property, the breaking of shop windows, excessive noise and other sorts of unsavoury behaviour that people living near such premises should not have to put up with.
Where do they get this sort of view, Mr Whitecross? I wonder. Where do they find this rubbish? Could it be that there is a Liberal in the New South Wales Labor Cabinet? Could there be a Liberal masquerading in the New South Wales Labor Cabinet?
It really is a telling indicator of how out of touch those people opposite are that day in and day out they can be negative about positive proposals that even the sole Labor Government in this country is prepared to embrace. These people opposite are so detached from reality, so out of touch with what people in this community are thinking and wanting, that they say, "No. We must continue to allow 24-hour trading, because that is what we have always supported and we will never change". The policy-free zone, the fact-free zone, strikes again. I think that what New South Wales is looking at - what we are now trialling - has to be seriously considered if we are to deal with the problems that those opposite for too long have ignored.
MS McRAE: My question is to Mr De Domenico in his capacity as Minister for Urban Services. Given the significance and, as you claim, importance as well as the complexities and the range of unanswered questions in regard to the transferring of Works and Commercial Services to Totalcare, Mr De Domenico, will you not now concede that, in keeping with the tenets of parliamentary democracy, you should have given a considered and detailed ministerial statement on the matter, outlining exactly what you intended to do, as the people of the ACT would expect?
MR DE DOMENICO: The answer to that is no. As we have to under the EBA, we have said, "On 1 January 1997 this Government intends to do a certain thing. However, in line with the EBA, let us now have nearly five months of consultation with the relevant staff members and say, `Under those circumstances we will now talk to you and see how best to do that' ". We also have an obligation to do that sort of thing under the national competition policy. That competition policy, for Ms McRae's edification,
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