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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1999 Week 5 Hansard (4 May) . . Page.. 1294 ..

MR HUMPHRIES (continuing):

Mr Speaker, this is the same motion which has been moved every year for a number of years, and it facilitates the special arrangements to do with the presentation of the budget.

Question resolved in the affirmative.

JUSTICE AND COMMUNITY SAFETY - STANDING COMMITTEE

Scrutiny Report No. 5 of 1999 and Statement

MR OSBORNE: Mr Speaker, I present Scrutiny Report No. 5 of 1999 of the Standing Committee on Justice and Community Safety performing the duties of a scrutiny of Bills and subordinate legislation committee. I ask for leave to make a brief statement on the report.

Leave granted.

MR OSBORNE: Mr Speaker, Scrutiny Report No. 5 of 1999 contains the committee's comments on five Bills, 20 pieces of subordinate legislation and two government responses. I commend the report to the Assembly.

TRUSTEE (AMENDMENT) BILL 1999

Debate resumed from 25 March 1999, on motion by Mr Humphries:

That this Bill be agreed to in principle.

MR STANHOPE (Leader of the Opposition) (10.34): Mr Speaker, the Trustee (Amendment) Bill amends the Trustee Act 1925 of the State of New South Wales in its application to the ACT. The principal objectives of the amending Bill are to amend the powers of investment of trustees and to set criteria that trustees must use when exercising the powers. As members may be aware, the current Act limits trustee investments to a range of nominated securities issued, for instance, by Commonwealth, State and Territory governments, to Commonwealth, State and Territory and local government owned corporations, to banks, building societies in relation to first mortgages, some bills of exchange, and solid security investments such as those.

This Bill that the Government has introduced will permit trustees to invest trust funds in any form of investment unless the instrument creating the trust prohibits certain types of investment in the terms of the trust instrument. The provision thereby creates a situation in which persons creating trusts, which includes, say, any person making a will, are to be well informed about how the trust fund may be invested. There has been a significant growth in the investment industry and the quality and quantity of advice have improved, and this Bill includes criteria that a prudent financial adviser should use when deciding on investments.

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