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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2002 Week 6 Hansard (14 May) . . Page.. 1550 ..

MR STEFANIAK: Chief Minister, why did you go down the path of appointing this committee as opposed to doing what the New South Wales parliament did back in November of 1991 when it referred the question to a Legislative Council committee?

MR STANHOPE: I did consider the range of options that were available for pursuing the issue of a bill of rights for the ACT. I am a supporter of a bill of rights. I do not resile from that; I think it is a good idea; I support it. I did not even need to have an inquiry, Mr Stefaniak; I could just have introduced legislation. It may be that the numbers are there in any event. I did not even have to have an inquiry. We could have debated it today, and we could have a bill of rights tomorrow. But I do not think that is an appropriate way to proceed with such a significant issue.

I am also mindful of the significant work that Terry Connolly did as Attorney-General some years ago and the work that was well advanced on a community debate on a bill of rights. There is a whole range of ways in which one could approach this particular task. This is a significant issue; it is a complex issue. At some levels it is technical, and it was in regard to some of the technical and difficult aspects of the protection of rights and issues of human rights that I was attracted to people of the calibre of Professor Charlesworth and Professor Behrendt.

I do not want to labour the point, but Professor Charlesworth is unquestionably the leading rights and human rights academic in Australia and is recognised by all her peers as such. She is head of the Centre for International and Public Law at the Australian National University-unimpeachable qualifications for this task. In fact, I was amazed that she accepted with the alacrity that she did my request for her to chair this committee. It is an enormous boon to this community that somebody of Professor Charlesworth's capacity, calibre and standing agreed to be involved in this particular project.

I am particularly thankful that, within this community, we have people of the calibre of Professor Charlesworth who are prepared to be involved in community life in this way. It is particularly pleasing that we as a community are able to attract into community activity of this importance and complexity people such as Professor Charlesworth, Professor Behrendt and, indeed, Ms Layland. It is a way of harnessing the enormous skill and expertise that we have in the community.

Without denigrating or slighting any of my colleagues-each of whom has a view that I admire enormously and the capacity to pursue this particular issue through a standing or select committee inquiry process-it seemed to me that we have national experts in our community who could be appointed to a committee. Why not utilise them in this way? Why not ask them to be involved? Why not ask them to take the issue to the people of Canberra and explain its intricacies in a way that neither you nor I can, Mr Stefaniak? We can talk about it but not-

Mr Stefaniak: We could have a good stab at it.

MR STANHOPE: We can have a stab at it, Mr Stefaniak, and I have enjoyed some of the correspondence that analysed your last particular stab at it. But why not utilise the skills of people within the community with the most outstanding credentials, qualifications and capacity in this process?

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