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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2000 Week 2 Hansard (1 March) . . Page.. 415 ..

Mr Stanhope: They do.

MR HUMPHRIES: But they did not. I can assure you that they did not because there are no records of any complaints.

Mr Hargreaves: And we believe you, absolutely! I would believe you in the same way as you believe Mr Wood, with some degree of cynicism.

MR HUMPHRIES: Mr Hargreaves says that that is not the case. Mr Hargreaves, did the committee of which you are a member call the Bureau of Fair Trading to give evidence about this matter? No, it did not. The fact is that the Labor Party knows very well that there is no problem in the ACT with this issue. We are about to impose on the industry a system of regulation which is going to be a significant cost to that industry and which is not justified; there has been not one complaint. The next time a business person comes through your door and complains about the level of red tape in the ACT, I dare you to tell them about the day that you imposed a system of regulation on a whole sector of an industry when not one complaint had been made about that industry on that score. I do not think that you will be able to do that if you vote for this legislation today.

MR BERRY (11.27): I do not know why I bother responding to Mr Smyth's air-headed contributions to debates, but I have to on this score. He is starting to believe his own propaganda. Let us take a little look at the committee's report. Mr Smyth, before you speak about these issues, I recommend that you get yourself properly briefed. Turn to the penultimate page of the report and look at the number of other jurisdictions which provide this sort of legislation. It happens in New South Wales. We are a little island in New South Wales and just over the border, in Queanbeyan, it is regulated. Take a look at Victoria, a former Liberal state. Yes, it is regulated. Take a look at South Australia, still a Liberal state. Yes, it is regulated. It is regulated in Western Australia, a Liberal state, and it is regulated in Queensland. Let us stop kidding ourselves about this matter. It is seen to be an issue in the majority of Australia. Why should it not be an issue in the ACT? Why should the ACT job seekers not be worthy of protection?

ACT job seekers never needed protection under the earlier model for employment agencies. The situation has changed, as you have properly informed the Assembly, and there is a need for protection, otherwise I am sure that these other States, these Liberal States, would have repealed the legislation they have in place which provides the protection that the legislation I introduced sets out to provide. It also provides a level playing field for business. How many times have we heard businesses say that they need to have a level playing field? Over and over they say that they need to have a level playing field. When they have a level playing field with regulation, they will all know what the rules are. They will have a code of practice which they will have to conform with. It will be a fair code of practice, one trusts, that this important industry in the ACT will have to comply with. Any unemployed person who is seeking a job will get treated in accordance with the same code of practice, with the same laws. There will be no variance and there will be penalties if people break the rules. We are providing a protection for a vulnerable sector of society. That is what this is about.

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