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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2001 Week 8 Hansard (9 August) . . Page.. 2805 ..

MR STANHOPE (continuing):

suspicion"? For example, "a young person with body-piercing and multi-coloured hair sitting in a laneway in Civic at 3am is probably doing something questionable" would enable an officer to stop and search that person where there are no other indicators of illegal behaviour.

Mr Stefaniak: You have no confidence whatsoever in the police. How disgraceful for the potential Chief Minister.

MR STANHOPE: This is a quote from the Law Society. I am telling you what the Law Society would have said to you.

Mr Stefaniak: I have read it.

MR STANHOPE: Why are you challenging me about something the Law Society said, if you have read it? This is what the Law Society said. Just sit and listen. Stop being so embarrassed, Attorney. Stop blushing so obviously. I continue:

The test for a "reasonable belief" is usually related to facts surrounding the individual or specific circumstances of the incident.

We do not see the need for a provision making it easier for police to arrest a person. There is no demonstrated necessity for the change and we oppose the changes, noting that the police already have sufficient power to stop and search and arrest when they have reasonable grounds for such action.

Those are the views that the Law Society would have given you, Attorney, had you bothered to ask them, had you bothered to consult, had you been bothered to ask the community and those in the community who have views on these issues what they thought about these things.

Whenever somebody stands up in this place and suggests that we as a legislature have a right, an obligation and a duty to test whether or not the powers we are giving to the police are reasonable and justifiable, somebody from that side jumps up and says, "You do not trust the police." We have sat through the Fitzgerald inquiry. We have sat through an inquiry in New South Wales. Last week we watched Blue Murder. It may be that some people around here have even met, at some stage in their lives, Roger Rogerson, police murderer, recipient of the police commissioner's commendation before he went out and shot his police friends, those who were not corrupt. We have all heard about Terry Lewis, police commissioner jailed for corruption. We have all heard about all those other policemen, including commissioners, and ministers for police jailed in New South Wales. I think it is reasonable to suggest that that level of corruption in police forces is not just a result of endemic problems within police forces. It is a result of sycophantic politicians not being prepared to do their duty, to show some guts, and to stand up and say, "We have an obligation to ensure that the balance is right." Show a little bit of moral courage in relation to your duties to the people of this place.

Question put:

That clause 19 be agreed to.

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