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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2000 Week 9 Hansard (7 September) . . Page.. 3102 ..
MR STANHOPE (continuing):
suspect than the Attorney has led us to believe. The amendments I have circulated to clause 29 clarify the situation. I seek leave to move the amendments together.
Leave granted.
MR STANHOPE: I move:
Page 15, line 31, subparagraph (1) (b) (ii), before "offence" insert "serious".
Page 16, line 1, subparagraph (1) (b) (iii), before "offence" insert "serious".
Amendments negatived.
Clause 29, as recommitted, agreed to.
Clause 34 agreed to.
Clauses 35 to 48, by leave, taken together, and agreed to.
Clause 49.
MR STANHOPE (Leader of the Opposition) (11.48): I move:
Page 27, line 7, paragraph (b), omit the paragraph, substitute the following new paragraph:
"(b) must not be carried out in the presence or view of anyone (other than a doctor, dentist or nurse, or the suspect's interview friend or lawyer) who is of the opposite sex to the suspect; and".
Mr Speaker, this amendment is quite straightforward. This amendment and amendments 20, 21, 22 and 23 are necessary in our view to ensure that forensic procedures are not carried out in the presence or view of a person of the opposite sex to the person giving the sample. There are exceptions made for doctors, dentists, nurses and people such as lawyers or intimate friends invited to be present by the person being tested.
The Labor Party's opinion is that it is an invasion of privacy to allow opposite sex persons to be present, particularly in the circumstances I explained before where the sample is being taken without the consent of the suspect or the offender. We believe that in circumstances where, for instance, a woman is being restrained, she should be restrained by and have a sample taken by another woman.
It is an issue of propriety and privacy. I do not see why it should cause any difficulty. The police are, I must say, to be commended on the extent to which they now recruit women and I would have thought that it would not cause any particular strain to the police to ensure that in circumstances where a woman is being restrained for the purposes of the compulsory taking of a sample it is done by a policewoman.
Amendment negatived.
Clause 49 agreed to.
Clauses 50 to 53, by leave, taken together, and agreed to.
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