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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 11 Hansard (6 November) . . Page.. 3728 ..

MR CORBELL: I have a supplementary question, Mr Speaker. Minister, given that you have acknowledged that your Government has increased fees for grounds and also given your purported support for young people, particularly, to be involved in sport in the Territory, have you taken any steps to protect youth and junior sporting groups, in particular, who are affected by this increase in fees? If so, what exemptions are there, for whom, and how have they been determined? If you have not, why not?

MR STEFANIAK: I am currently considering several requests, Mr Corbell, one in particular which I think is probably very reasonable which I am awaiting some further details on. In all instances, I think, where people indicate that there is a problem, they ask for some transitory arrangement, and that is something I would consider on a case-by-case basis. There have been some instances where, regrettably, we have been unable to accommodate that. There are a couple of requests which I have indicated I will consider. There is one for which, on the face of it, although I am waiting for more material, there seems to be a very reasonable case for at least some transitory arrangement. You refer to the need, especially with younger participants, to encourage participation. That is an essential plank in Active Australia, and I am very mindful of that.

MR HIRD: Mr Speaker, my question is to the Minister for Police and Emergency Services. I ask the Minister whether he could cite any recent examples of where a safety camera has been effective in the prevention or detection of crime. Minister, how close to home is this issue of the use of safety cameras to detect crime?

MR HUMPHRIES: Mr Speaker, it is certainly a hot issue today. I understand that there are some government buildings around Canberra which do use safety cameras from time to time. One of those was apparently the subject of a burglary over the weekend just passed. It appears that safety cameras were used to identify the alleged offender, who was arrested yesterday by city police. The burglary, thankfully, did not involve any significant damage to property or, more importantly, place any person at risk. Nonetheless, burglary is a property crime and should be treated seriously, and a small amount of equipment was stolen. Mr Speaker, the question that needs to be asked is: What building was it? The answer is that it was this building, the ACT Legislative Assembly building. The cameras in question were the cameras installed in, I think, 1994 by the Australian Labor Party.

Mr Hird: The Labor Party?

MR HUMPHRIES: The Labor Party, yes, the party that opposes the use of cameras. Apparently, these cameras installed by the Labor Party were used to detect this particular alleged offender. This is the same Labor Party that now bleats about the use of those safety cameras for other parts of the city. Mr Speaker, I have to say that in these circumstances I think any ordinary citizen of the Territory would ask a serious question: Why is it good enough for the property and fabric of the ACT Legislative Assembly to be protected by - - -

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