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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2000 Week 8 Hansard (29 August) . . Page.. 2598 ..

MR BERRY (continuing):

referee as a Dummkopf. The referee might be extremely offended by that. An Australian might say, "You bloody dummy." It all gets to be a little bit silly. What about insulting or threatening language in Mandarin, for example? Is there going to be somebody out there to work this all out. This is getting a bit out of hand.

Other proposed offences are behaving in an offensive, insulting, intimidating or harassing manner; injuring or damaging a person or property; engaging in violent behaviour; and disrupting interfering with, delaying or obstructing the conduct of an Olympic event or an activity associated with the event. There is one significant group that seems to be included and that is the players. It is not going to be much of a game if they have to adhere to these sorts of rules. It seems to me that a fair bit of confrontation and enthusiasm go into the sport. At games of all codes of football I have sat on the sideline for, some of the language might cause the players to be thrown out of the place.

Mr Hird: You did not know what it was, Wayne.

MR BERRY: I did not know what it meant, so it did not bother me much. I do not think Mr Rugendyke's amendment has been well thought out. It might be well meaning, and I am sure Mr Rugendyke wants to make it a happy day for everybody. But when you try to proscribe all sort of activity in a subjective way, you run into the dead end of law which becomes so draconian that it is almost offensive. I have raised the issue of the players and the way they will behave on the day and the way people in the crowd may behave towards the referee or each other in a lighthearted way or otherwise. It seems to me that many offences could be committed.

Nobody is saying that the police will not act judiciously and carefully. But when you write laws like this you are asking for trouble. Happily, it will not be around for long. It might not be around at all if the news on the television is any indication. Things are not going too well at Bruce Stadium, I understand. There could be a sale of turf tomorrow, or a lot of material for the garden. Happily, it will not be around forever.

We seem to be setting a precedent for proscribing all sorts of crimes and offences at some future time. I do not regard this as a precedent. I think it is a dangerous move and one that we should avoid at all costs.

Amendments (Mr Moore's ) to Mr Rugendyke's amendment agreed to.

Question put:

A vote having been called for and the bells being rung-

Mr Hird: Mr Speaker, I would like to draw your attention to the fact that the minister walked in front of you, contrary to standing order 41, something he has brought my attention to on another occasion.

MR SPEAKER: I uphold the point of order.

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