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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1999 Week 13 Hansard (7 December) . . Page.. 3804 ..

MR KAINE (continuing):

legislation on the table. I would prefer to have the answers to these questions before we pass the legislation. He raised the question, "What do we do if a juvenile turns up and wants to be dealt with in this program?". He posed the question but he did not give the answer.

Mr Stanhope: I do. Read the Bill, Trevor. Read my amendments, which you have had for months.

MR SPEAKER: Order! We are not debating the Bill.

MR KAINE: Exactly, Mr Speaker. We should not be, and I am making the point that there are real questions still about this legislation, legal questions that the proponents of this Bill are prepared to sweep under the carpet as though they do not exist. "We will deal with them later", we are told. Well, Mr Speaker, on an issue like this, when there are very strong opinions in the public and in this place about them, it is not good enough to say, "Just pass the legislation on Thursday. Trust us, and we will tidy up these minor details later".

We are told by the Leader of the Opposition that the AFP will deal with this matter in a responsible way.

Mr Stanhope: They will.

MR KAINE: In accordance with what directions and guidelines are they going to deal with it in a responsible way? I have not yet seen the guidelines directing the AFP as to how they are to act, Mr Stanhope. Are you going to put them on the table before Thursday? Have you come to some agreement with the DPP about what sorts of directions he is going to accept? Have you spoken to the Attorney-General as to the kinds of directions he might give the DPP? I submit that you have not, and yet you are saying to us, "Just do not worry about the report of the scrutiny of Bills committee; it really is unimportant".

I think this place has a decision to make, Mr Speaker, about whether the scrutiny of Bills process in this place is going to have any significance or not. If it is not, do away with the committee. Stop wasting our time. We do not sit as a committee and consider these matters and come down here and raise with you important issues that your legislation raises only to be told, "It's no great deal. Go away. We will fix it all afterwards". Mr Speaker, I do not accept that, and I expect the proponents of this Bill, when we debate it, to answer all the questions and not simply say, "Well, there are some minor problems but we will fix them up afterwards". That is not good enough. They had better be fixed before we pass the legislation and not afterwards.

MR MOORE (Minister for Health and Community Care): Mr Speaker, I have the right, under standing order 47, to explain where I have been misquoted or misunderstood. Mr Kaine indicates, I think, that he misunderstood. What I did say was that we would take this seriously. We will respond properly and as quickly as possible so that members can see that response. That is not difficult for us because we have already prepared

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