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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 14 Hansard (9 December) . . Page.. 4777 ..

MR HUMPHRIES (continuing):

I present the supplementary explanatory memorandum. Generally, these amendments pick up a number of issues which I indicated to the Assembly last week the Government had concerns about with this legislation, and it is the intention of the Government that the concept proposed in Mr Moore's legislation should be trialled; that a more limited number of offences should be subject to the purview of the legislation than was suggested by Mr Moore in the original Bill; but that, with the modifications suggested in these amendments, it be possible to ensure that possible problems with the operation of the legislation be put to one side. Among the things that the Government proposes in these amendments are that those under 18 years of age would not be subject to on-the-spot fines; that information on offence notices should be recorded and possibly mentioned in future court proceedings in certain circumstances; that a warrant issue automatically for the arrest of a person who has not paid a fine under these provisions; and that the Commissioner of Police have the power to extend the period in which a person is able to pay a fine.

Mr Speaker, I hope that members will support the slightly more cautious approach which the Government has taken in respect of the Bill. We believe it needs to have a more limited application than was suggested in the original Bill. But the concept, if sound and proven to be sound through its trialling by the police, I think, has the potential to be widened in the future as the occasion arises. I hope the amendments will, therefore, meet with the approval of members.

MR MOORE (5.31): Mr Speaker, I think I will just stand once and address the general amendments, for the time being anyway. I am very keen to see this innovative method of ensuring that we can keep police on the beat introduced, because I think their very presence on the beat creates an environment where people tend to obey the law. That is why I am keen to see this trialled. I have been in quite a number of discussions with the Government and others, and I am content to accept the amendments proposed by Mr Humphries. But it is a matter that I will be continuing to monitor and see how they work. Here we are not only attempting to keep officers on the beat but also providing an opportunity to ensure that there are alternative proposals to that put so often by this Government about move-on powers. But move-on powers are not the only solution to problems in terms of the way we deal with people. In fact, I would still argue that the biggest problem with the move-on powers, compared to this legislation, is that there are no appeal rights in move-on powers; therefore, they transfer an inordinate amount of power into the hands of the police. In this case, decisions of the police officer can still be contested. To me, that is the critical factor.

MS TUCKER (5.33): I will speak generally as well to the amendments that will be put and briefly address the only amendment I am putting. I will not speak at length again about the rationale behind the Bill, although one of the recommendations of the CLRC report I would like to raise and that I did not mention last week is that the on-the-spot fine should not be introduced for revenue-raising purposes. I do have concerns about this. I note that there are a limited number of offences now - not seven, but only two - that this would apply to. I am reassured to hear Mr Humphries say he sees it only as a trial. That is the spirit in which I would be supporting this legislation and the Government's amendments, except for one proposal of the Government's that I will not be supporting; namely, to require the magistrate to automatically issue a warrant of arrest in the event of an unpaid fine.

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