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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 9 Hansard (4 September) . . Page.. 3021 ..

MR WHITECROSS (continuing):

drink-driving and has taken away from the magistrates the right to judge a case on its merits. Mr Speaker, I will always defend the right of the magistrates to judge a case on its merits. I do not think it is an appropriate role for Mr Kaine to be telling the magistrates what to do, and I do not think he has produced a skerrick of evidence to demonstrate that there is a problem in relation to this.

Mr Speaker, Mr Kaine also talked about the business of carrying a licence and the inconvenience and difficulties caused by a situation where someone is pulled over by the side of the road and asked to produce their licence; they say that they do not have it, and then they have three days to produce it. Mr Kaine says, "They could give a false name and address, and we might never find them". Mr Kaine, let me paint a picture for you. This same person, under your law, is driving down the road and gets pulled over by a police officer, who says "Where is your licence?". He says, "I do not have it". He is asked, "What is your name?". He gives a false name and address. The police officer pulls out his pad and writes out a $45 on-the-spot fine and says, "You have to present at the police station within three days to prove that you do have a licence". We are in exactly the same position as we were in before, Mr Speaker. The person still has to present to prove that he did have a licence. The police officer still has to be there at the station when the person presents, to ensure that he does have the licence and is the same person that was pulled over. If he has given a false name and address, then the on-the-spot fine is not going to be worth very much, is it?

Mr Speaker, we have not really added a lot of value to the equation, except that Mr Kaine now has the satisfaction of knowing that he is tough on crime because he has been able to hand out a $45 on-the-spot fine, which may or may not get paid, depending on whether they can track down the person who has given a false name and address. So, Mr Speaker, I do not really believe that the problem that Mr Kaine suggests with the current law is solved by the change. The reality is that most people do carry their licences with them all the time and happily produce them to the police. It is only in exceptional circumstances that people are in a situation of not carrying their licence. Mr Speaker, the kinds of people that Mr Kaine is really on about are the people who wilfully give false names and addresses. I fail to see how a $45 on-the-spot fine is going to change that, especially if the person in question thinks that by failing to produce their licence they will avoid some more serious penalty.

I believe that we need to be sensible about this. We should not be saying, as Mr Kaine wants to say, "We do not trust the magistrates to do their job properly; so, we are going to tell them how to do it. We are going to tell them whom they can and cannot give a special licence to". Are you going to tell them what minimum sentence to provide, as you tried to do with the previous legislation? Mr Speaker, I think we ought to trust the magistrates to do their job.

The amendments that have been moved by Mr Moore, which were negotiated between Labor, the Greens and Mr Moore, provide appropriate guidance to magistrates in handing out special licences. If guidance was required - and I have to say that no evidence has ever been provided to me that guidance was asked for - then the amendments that have been proposed by Labor, the Greens and Mr Moore provide that guidance.

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