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

Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 13 Hansard (3 December) . . Page.. 4507 ..

MR WOOD (continuing):

and, particularly, cannabis on-the-spot fines and others have not been paid. I cannot back it up with data, but I suspect it is a very large number. When the recipient of an on-the-spot fine does not pay, you have to generate at least as much work as, probably more work than, you avoided in the first instance by putting out the fine.

We have seen fairly draconian ads on television in the last few weeks from the New South Wales Government telling people what will happen if they do not pay those fines. You lose your TV, your car and all sorts of things. Is that the sort of thing we are going to have to do here? Well, we do. I had a constituent ring in today with a large number of unpaid parking fines and she is facing the penalty for that. There is a follow-up action required, and that takes time. In the end, is there a net saving in time in the passing out of these on-the-spot fines? So these are the problems, and I do not know at this stage whether they are greater than the benefits that are claimed.

The Opposition will not be supporting this Bill at the in-principle stage. The simple fact is that it is not in a clear enough form. We are not sure what is going to come and that, with our basic reservations about on-the-spot fines, will cause us to vote against it. This is a recycled Bill, as was mentioned a little while ago. The first draft of it, and this is not too different, was not well received by Mr Humphries's Legal Affairs Committee some years ago.

Mr Osborne has indicated that he has a number of proposed amendments. I do not think he is going to proceed with those. It would appear that Mr Humphries is going to prepare amendments and bring them in next week. Mr Moore has indicated that, instead of the seven offences that he was going to cover, it will come back to two. This Bill seems not to be very close to the Bill that we might pass next week. I think it is just too distant from what we know to be able to vote yes at the in-principle stage. Mr Humphries has people working now on amendments. I would say to him that I want to see those amendments. The Opposition, and I am sure all members, would want to see those amendments this week. I do not know whether Mr Moore is still proceeding with amendments or whether the Government has taken up the whole issue and will proceed with it. Mr Moore, in his reply, might answer some of these questions for us. At this stage the whole Bill is altogether too vague. The outcome is too indeterminate for us to vote in favour of it.

There is another more significant factor, and that is that the Community Law Reform Committee of the ACT has reported on street offences, including on-the-spot fines.

Mr Moore: Are you going to misrepresent them too?

MR WOOD: You have a chance to reply, Mr Moore. They have made a number of recommendations. They have suggested changes to a number of laws, not by way of on-the-spot fines, although they have suggested that that is possible in two circumstances. They have suggested changes in a number of laws that need to be updated. As I read that report, it says to me that we need to go back and have a look at a number of these offences, rework them all, and come up with a response to that report. It may be that part of that response will be on-the-spot fines in the circumstances that they agree with.

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