Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .

Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 13 Hansard (3 December) . . Page.. 4504 ..

Debate resumed from 3 September 1997, on motion by Mr Moore:

That this Bill be agreed to in principle.

MR OSBORNE (8.04): I will be very brief because I believe I spoke for 20 minutes on the last piece of legislation. I support this legislation. When Mr Moore introduced it a couple of months ago I looked favourably upon it. I believe it is a rehash of a Bill that Mr Moore presented back in 1993 and I think the concept is similar to the simple cannabis offences notices which he introduced, I think, in the last Assembly. I believe that Mr Humphries has a number of amendments that he intends to move next week and I will speak in detail on them. A number of issues have been raised by the AFP and I think that Mr Humphries's amendments go a long way to addressing them. In saying that, I think there is some merit in what Mr Moore is proposing and I would hope that, following consultation with other members, we can sort out what Mr Humphries has. I think Mr Moore also may have some amendments. Hopefully, we will come back with a piece of legislation that enables the police to do their job more effectively. I will be speaking during the detail stage on the amendments that Mr Humphries has.

MR HUMPHRIES (Attorney-General) (8.06): I also will try to be brief because I think we should have more substantive debate next week. Mr Moore's Bill, like the previous Bill we dealt with tonight, has had a long gestation and it represents a considered view about the way in which we ought to be managing the problem of dealing with street crime in our city. Mr Moore originally put forward this concept in legislation that he brought forward in the last Assembly. It was considered by the Legal Affairs Committee, which I then chaired, which recommended that we needed to await certain developments in the management of information by the police and, to some extent, the computerisation of their records in order to be able to manage this process properly. I understand that that has now occurred. We now have the capacity to decide whether this sort of system should be put in place.

Mr Speaker, as members will be aware, the Bill relates to seven different offences, ranging from misbehaving at public meetings - an offence I have often seen, Mr Speaker, but one that I never realised I could get someone thrown in the clink for - through to fighting, and to drinking in a public place. It gives the police the power to issue an on-the-spot fine in respect of those offences, rather than lay a charge against the person concerned. The advantage of such an arrangement is fairly obvious. Instead of having one or two police officers tied up taking an accused person to the police station, arranging for charge sheets to be filled out, arranging perhaps for bail to be organised in certain circumstances and so on, all of which takes them off their beat and into the police station where not much crime is taking place, the officer has the option of being able to issue an on-the-spot fine. The penalty is expiated by the payment of the amount specified on the fine, $100. The miscreant suffers the penalty of paying that money but does not have to appear in court, and, most importantly, does not have a criminal conviction recorded against his or her name. The police officer or officers are back on the streets of Canberra more quickly, or back in their squad cars or whatever, dealing with problems around the city.

Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .