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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1999 Week 11 Hansard (20 October) . . Page.. 3358 ..

MR HUMPHRIES: Mr Speaker, in any area, where the ACT passes law which is inconsistent with Federal law, our law gives way. Our law is invalid to the extent that it is inconsistent with Federal law. That is clearly the constitutional position.

Mr Berry: But you may have noticed this is not legislation.

MR HUMPHRIES: Mr Speaker, that Workplace Relations Act, like it or not, applies in the ACT, as it applies everywhere else in this country, and it makes it clear that it is a breach of the law.

Mr Berry: It is not an offence.

MR HUMPHRIES: No, it is not an offence. But, Mr Speaker, it is a breach of the law in the same serious sense as that when members opposite said that the actions in respect of Bruce Stadium were a breach of the law. Now, cast your minds back to what those opposite said about Bruce Stadium. They intoned the seriousness of that matter in the most grave language you can imagine. In fact, Mr Speaker, the Chief Minister was censured on that occasion for a breach of that provision.

Mr Moore: You wanted a no confidence.

MR HUMPHRIES: Those opposite wanted to sack the Chief Minister of the Territory because that regulatory provision was breached. Now, Mr Speaker, those opposite are arguing that we should not just unwittingly, as was the case with the Financial Management Act, but intentionally break the law with respect to the Workplace Relations Act.

Mr Berry: No, no, no.

MR HUMPHRIES: Yes. Yes, that is precisely their argument, Mr Speaker.

MR SPEAKER: Sit down, Mr Berry, you will get the chance to speak later, if you wish.

MR HUMPHRIES: Mr Berry shakes his head but the fact is he is saying to us, "You should break the law". Mr Speaker, I do not understand the difference, and I look forward to those opposite explaining it to me. In both cases they are regulatory provisions, and in both cases they amount to breaches of the law.

Mr Moore: Except that this one can get a penalty.

MR HUMPHRIES: Well, indeed, Mr Speaker, there is another difference here. The provisions in the Workplace Relations Act do carry financial penalties.

Mr Moore: Ten thousand dollars.

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