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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1998 Week 11 Hansard (9 December) . . Page.. 3413 ..

MR OSBORNE (6.17): I do not have a copy of the Clerk's letter but from memory there were two issues, which were, I thought, only minor issues. One related to the issue of the five days from when someone can go to court. That is something that has been in place from about the nineteenth century, I believe, when it took a number of days by horse and carriage to get to court. The second thing was the issue of the car park being included in the precinct. They are hardly issues which warrant defeating the Bill, Mr Speaker. I think the Bill should go through and I will not be supporting this waste of time by Mr Berry.

MR KAINE (6.18): Mr Speaker, I support the motion that this Bill should go to the committee for consideration. In fact, Mr Osborne's comments confirm my view. As the Chief Minister said, the Clerk did make some very significant comment about this Bill, but the originator of the Bill tends to underestimate the importance of the Clerk's comments. I would have thought that if the author of this Bill were serious about it he would have taken on board the comments made by the Clerk and brought forward some amendments to correct it. He has not chosen to do so. Nor has the Government. It does not seem to consider that the Clerk's comments have any relevance at all; that we should whack it through tonight and, if the Bill has flaws, tough luck. I do not support that approach to legislation of any kind, Mr Speaker.

The point has already been made that this is not insignificant legislation. It is quite significant legislation. We should make sure we get it right. Since nobody on the floor of the house has chosen to attempt to do that, I support the referral of the Bill to a committee that can have a look at the matters raised by the Clerk and by anybody else who might have some concerns with it, and make sure that when it is passed by this house it is good legislation, not flawed legislation.

MS TUCKER: I seek leave to speak again.

Leave granted.

MS TUCKER: I want to make an extra comment. If members are saying that this should not go to a committee and that comments from the Clerk are not serious, and Mr Osborne obviously has not been able to address them, Mr Moore and Mrs Carnell might like to address those issues for the benefit of members here so that we understand why they think these comments are not serious enough to warrant the committee looking at them. I would like to hear from Mr Moore and Mrs Carnell on that.

Mr Moore: Close the debate, Wayne.

Mr Berry: No, you address it. Tell us what you think of that. You can have leave to speak again.

MR SPEAKER: Order, Mr Berry!

Mr Berry: We just offered them leave to speak again and neither of them would rise to respond to the - - -

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