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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1998 Week 11 Hansard (10 December) . . Page.. 3488 ..

MS TUCKER: I move:

That this Assembly:

(1) noting:

(a) that the Standing Committee on Legal Affairs of the Third Assembly did not authorise the publication of the submissions it received relating to its inquiry into the immunisation of children and did not report to the Assembly on that inquiry; and

(b) that these submissions represent a valuable resource and an expression of the community's views on the issue for Members of the Assembly;

(2) authorises the Clerk to make the unpublished submissions and associated records received by the Standing Committee on Legal Affairs of the Third Assembly on its inquiry into the immunisation of children available to the Standing Committee on Health and Community Care to examine and for that Committee to authorise the publication of those documents the Committee considers appropriate under the standing orders.

A lot of work was put into these submissions by members of the community and there is an ongoing interest in the subject. I have been lobbied on it. I was very disappointed that the Standing Committee on Legal Affairs did not complete an inquiry or publish these submissions. As a mark of respect to those members of the community who are passionate and care or who have information on these matters, we should at least publish the submissions and allow further discussion based on that evidence and allow for members of the Assembly to become involved as well.

MR WOOD (4.02): Mr Speaker, I support the motion as a one-time member of the Standing Committee on Legal Affairs. That committee did not get around to doing a report on the immunisation of children, but I am certainly aware that a great deal of information came in, of which I saw some. People in the community had an expectation that their views would be heard. We are not reporting on what they have done, but by passing this motion we would at least say to those people that we will take note of what they have said; that we will listen to what they have said. It is not likely now that we will take it any further. I am not expecting that to happen, but as people made the effort to put in submissions it is certainly the Assembly's responsibility to see that those submissions are available to us, as of course they are, and more widely if others wish to see them.

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