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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1998 Week 3 Hansard (27 May) . . Page.. 606 ..

MR OSBORNE (continuing):

Mr Speaker, I am advised - and perhaps the Attorney-General can deal with this in his response - that the Liquor Licensing Board has several prosecutions before it for sale of liquor to under-age people which will now almost certainly have to be dismissed because the Supreme Court has provided defendants with an easy defence. This Bill would make it an offence for a licensee to sell alcohol to an under-age person. It will still be necessary, as with any offence, to prove to the satisfaction of the board or the court that there was an element of intent - the mens rea of the offence - and that the offence actually took place - the actus reus part of the offence. But what this Bill will not do is allow the defendant simply to assert that he or she is not liable for the neglect of his or her employees in such a serious case.

Mr Speaker, I believe that selling alcohol to under-age people is something that we as an Assembly need to cover all bases on, to make sure that there are no loopholes for people to slip through. I commend the Bill to the Assembly.

Debate (on motion by Mr Humphries) adjourned.

MS TUCKER (10.35): I present the Building (Amendment) Bill 1998, together with its explanatory memorandum.

Title read by Clerk.

MS TUCKER: I move:

That this Bill be agreed to in principle.

Mr Speaker, it is with pleasure that I present the Building (Amendment) Bill and accompanying explanatory memorandum. I will briefly run through the features of the legislation, before talking about some of the benefits of introducing waste management plans for construction and demolition work. The legislation, if passed, will require applications for approval of a waste management plan to be included as part of the approval process for any building work involving the demolition of a building. I want to point out that this legislation is not just about waste from major demolition projects. A waste management plan will be necessary for the demolition of any building, except the demolition of a residential building that does not involve an extension of the building, as that could be impractical and difficult to enforce and it is likely that only small amounts of material would be involved.

A waste management plan must include information about the extent of demolition work to be undertaken, the nature and amount of waste that will be generated by the demolition and the location to which each type of waste will be taken by the builder for reuse, recycling or disposal. In assessing whether or not a waste management plan is adequate, the Building Controller must be satisfied that when a recycling facility exists in the ACT for the type of materials that are being disposed of the materials are being disposed of, as far as practicable, at that facility. Other requirements may be prescribed by regulation.

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