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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 10 Hansard (25 September) . . Page.. 3279 ..

MR HUMPHRIES (continuing):

The Ombudsman is only this week presenting a report to this place which comprehensively overviews the work of the Australian Federal Police, some might even say too comprehensively. We already have an Auditor-General who is very effective at being able to oversee other elements of the ACT government service, and we have privacy legislation which is regularly invoked by individuals in the ACT for their protection and would be available for the same purposes in a trial.

I therefore have to express my extreme disappointment that the Assembly does not see fit to allow the Government to proceed with this trial. I make it perfectly clear in this place that we will not be spending over $100,000 of fairly hard-pressed taxpayers' resources to duplicate what we already have. I also have to record that I am not particularly sure that we are in the position to be able to do that any longer anyway, whether Wormald are prepared to provide the cameras for the trial any longer. Bear in mind that it was over a year ago that Wormald offered these resources free to the ACT for a trial. That opportunity may have passed; but, even if it has not, there is a separate question of having lost the opportunity to use some Commonwealth funding to trial those cameras.

Members will recall that when this matter was last debated in the Assembly, I think in June, there was the possibility of using money made available by the Commonwealth for prevention of crime. Special project money was made available to the ACT. That money was available at that time, but we needed to indicate quickly whether the Government was prepared to take up the offer of that money for this purpose and to make that bid to the Commonwealth. That opportunity has now passed. If we were to conduct a properly evaluated trial of the kind referred to in this report, we would have to find the money from within ACT resources, and it has not been budgeted for. It would be expensive; I suspect, if done properly, in the order of $100,000.

I say once more that I think that the Assembly has missed an important opportunity. It is unfortunate that this issue remains up in the air. My party will certainly take this issue to the next ACT election and we will push hard at that election for the capacity - - -

Mr Wood: Just do what you have been told to do. You have no problem.

MR HUMPHRIES: We have already done what we were told to do, Mr Wood.

Mr Wood: No, you have not.

MR HUMPHRIES: We have privacy legislation and we have an ombudsman. We have both of those things already. (Extension of time granted) I think you have to explain to this place why an additional requirement needs to be put in place to provide for those issues to be covered. They are already covered comprehensively by existing mechanisms. They would not have been if we were not proposing to use the Australian Federal Police for the trial, but we were.

I say very sincerely to this place that I have no desire to make law and order an issue at the next election.

Mr Wood: Yes, you do.

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