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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1999 Week 9 Hansard (31 August) . . Page.. 2626 ..
MR SMYTH (Minister for Urban Services) (3.54): I wish to speak briefly before we vote on the amendments. Mr Speaker, the Government can support amendments Nos 1,2 3 and 5. We do not believe that it is important to tie up officers, which amendment No. 4 would do. I think the community does not believe in that, also. Some of the work that the NRMA did indicated that police should be out there looking at the more serious crimes, rather than baby-sitting speed cameras. I thank the Assembly for not supporting amendment No. 4.
Amendments agreed to.
MR HARGREAVES (3.55): I move:
Clause 13, page 25, line 16, after proposed new section 180MS, insert the following section in Division 6:
" '180MSA Amnesty for camera-detected offences for first 2 months
'(1) This section applies to a camera-detected offence if the offence-
(a) is an offence against this Act; and
(b) is committed within 2 months after the day when this Part commences.
'(2) The administering authority may serve a notice (a warning notice ) on a person who could, apart from subsection (4), be served with an infringement notice for the offence.
'(3) The warning notice must tell the person about the detection of the offence and the infringement notice penalty for the offence.
'(4) Despite anything else in this Act, a person must not be prosecuted in a court for the offence, or served with an infringement notice for the offence, unless the person has been served with a warning notice for a previous offence.
'(5) This section expires 12 months after the day it commences.".
Mr Speaker, the Minister has shown his absolute and complete ignorance of parliamentary drafting by his comments earlier about the amnesty. It needs to be put into perspective. I am not asking for a two-month moratorium whereby everybody gets off scot-free. What I am saying is that, as Mr Osborne quite rightly pointed out, the effect and success of the introduction of speed cameras are dependent upon the publicity campaign that precedes and accompanies their introduction.
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