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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1998 Week 11 Hansard (8 December) . . Page.. 3290 ..

MR STANHOPE (continuing):

There is a significant difference, however, between a working paper, or a discussion paper, and a piece of legislation. In relation to this proposal, it is certainly the case that the legislation does not in all respects reflect the recommendations of the working party. To say that the discussion paper may have been available for some period does not address the fact that we have had this piece of legislation available for perusal for just 10 days.

I have to say that this problem of lack of opportunity to consider legislation in detail has been exacerbated this week as a result of the very limited time that has been available to members to get across a raft of other legislation. There may be no other reason for referring this particular piece of legislation to a committee than the fact that the other legislation that has been delivered has imposed such pressure on the Assembly, and it is not necessarily specifically relevant just to victims of crime. There is a concerning issue involved here. When one looks at the range of legislation that has been tabled in the last couple of weeks and which is scheduled for debate this week, one sees it is simply not possible for this place to get across this legislation in the detail required.

The ACTEW (Transfer Scheme) Bill was introduced on 26 November and debated today. The Land (Planning and Environment) (Amendment) Bill was introduced on 19 November and debated today. The Milk Authority (Amendment) Bill (No. 2) was introduced on 24 November and is to be debated today. The Custodial Escorts Bill was introduced on 26 November and is to be debated today. This coming Thursday we are to debate the Supreme Court (Amendment) Bill (No. 3) which was introduced on 19 November. On Thursday we are to debate the Rates and Land Tax (Amendment) Bill (No. 2) which was introduced on 19 November. I think two pieces of legislation were introduced today which we are to debate on Thursday.

All in all, we have eight pieces of legislation, some of it very significant legislation, that have been available to this Assembly for less than two weeks. It really is a big ask of members to get across issues of this substance and complexity in a couple of weeks and for us to make good law and be confident that the law is based on good policy. It is of concern to me that the Executive, through the ministry in this place, and through the resources available from the Public Service to the Executive, is undermining the capacity of this legislature to do its job properly. There are real issues of process here that we as an Assembly need to address. Because of the complexity of these issues, the resources available to the Executive and its control of the timing of the introduction and debate of these Bills, I am concerned that some of this legislation is not getting the attention that it deserves.

We are at serious risk of skewing the relationship between the Executive and the legislature. That is of real concern to me. For those reasons, and not because the Opposition at this stage has any in-principle concerns with the proposals that are ensconced within this Bill, we seek the Assembly's support in referring the Bill to the Justice Committee for inquiry and report. I understand from discussions that members of that committee are quite amenable to an inquiry into the particular Bill. I welcome their willingness to do the work and I commend the motion to the Assembly.

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