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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 14 Hansard (10 December) . . Page.. 4849 ..

Clause 4

MR HUMPHRIES (Attorney-General and Minister for Fair Trading) (4.07): Mr Speaker, I move:

Page 2, line 5, paragraph (a), omit the paragraph.

I present a supplementary explanatory memorandum. I seek leave to incorporate my speaking notes in Hansard.

Leave granted.

Speaking notes incorporated at Appendix 1.

Amendment agreed to.

Amendment (by Mr Humphries) agreed to:

Page 2, line 8, add the following paragraphs:

"(c) by omitting `includes' from the definition of `conduct' and substituting `means any act or omission including'; and

(b) by omitting from the definition of `substantive commencement date' all the words after `means' and substituting `1 January 1995'.".

Clause, as amended, agreed to.

Clauses 5 and 6 negatived.

Clause 7

MR MOORE (4.09): Although I would like to have seen the previous two clauses remain in the legislation because I think that any matter should come before the tribunal, I accept that there are good arguments for the Government and the Opposition opposing the clauses. They were not critical factors to me. Indeed, although I thought they were important, I made it very clear that the significant part of the legislation to me is clause 7. I take this opportunity to say to members that it is not too late to change your mind. This is an opportunity for you to support small business in the face of big business. It is an opportunity for you to correct the misuse of market position. It is an opportunity for you to correct the imbalance of power. It is an opportunity for you to support jobs in this Territory. Those are the issues that are tied to this addition to the Tenancy Tribunal Act.

Mr Speaker, it is the case that all this does is increase the opportunity for people to come before a tribunal. It does not say that it is going to make excessive rent invalid. Argument would have to be put to the tribunal and the tribunal could then consider whether there was a case. The tribunal could take into account a full range of issues after

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