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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1998 Week 11 Hansard (9 December) . . Page.. 3411 ..

MS TUCKER (6.10): Yes, I support the motion that it go to the Administration and Procedure Committee. I supported this Bill in principle, but I am interested to hear that there were some concerns raised by the Clerk. I am not familiar with what they were. If there are some issues of detail that need to be resolved it is entirely appropriate that it go to the committee. I hope that members will support the motion. If they do not it shows a certain belligerent attitude that is quite unnecessary under the circumstances.

MR MOORE (Minister for Health and Community Care) (6.10): Mr Speaker, my recollection is very different from that of Mr Berry and Ms Tucker. The issue came before the Administration and Procedure Committee and was dealt with in the last Assembly by that committee. It was not dealt with as a Bill, but conceptually and as part of the issues. In its legislative form, as it is here, I think there is nothing that warrants any controversy and it can go forward. Is your recollection different from mine?

Mr Berry: My understanding was that there might have been parts of it - - -

MR MOORE: It may be parts of it. Maybe a series of issues came before us at different times. That may be why I have that recollection. I think this helps resolve some of those issues and I think it is not necessary for the Bill to go back to that committee. I think the Bill is fine in its current form.

MR CORBELL (6.11): Mr Speaker, I will be supporting the motion to refer the Bill to the Administration and Procedure Committee simply for the very reasons that Mr Moore points out. Whilst the Administration and Procedure Committee in the last Assembly, I understand, did deal with a number of the issues that are raised in the Bill, it did not deal with the overarching development of that piece of proposed legislation and the impact it would have on the operations of this place.

In light of the fairly serious and important comments that have been made by the Assembly's Clerk in relation to this Bill and some of the concerns that have been identified through that advice, it is entirely appropriate that this Bill be considered by the Administration and Procedure Committee. There has been no thorough analysis of it. If there is a forum in this place, apart from the Assembly itself, which could be used to do a more detailed assessment, it would be the Administration and Procedure Committee. It has the representation of all groupings in this place and it has the ability to seek the advice of officers of the Assembly who have the expertise that I think is important in considering this Bill. It is not a minor Bill. It is not something that should be debated in half an hour today and simply passed through. It should be considered carefully through a committee process. We have done that with a range of other Bills and on this occasion I think it is entirely appropriate that we do that.

I urge members not to deal with this Bill too hastily in terms of debate this evening, but instead refer it to the Administration and Procedure Committee so that we can deal not just with the issues which led to the drafting of the Bill but the Bill itself.

MS CARNELL (Chief Minister and Treasurer) (6.13): Mr Speaker, there are a number of reasons why you send a Bill to a committee and we have spoken about them in the last couple of days. Sometimes it is because, as with Mr Rugendyke's Bill, we had only had it for a very short time and there were still some issues that some people were

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