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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2002 Week 12 Hansard (13 November) . . Page.. 3489 ..

MR PRATT (continuing):

I have made a substantial effort to explain to members, both in the chamber and outside, that this bill will do nothing to affect the law changes passed by the Assembly recently.

Mr Speaker, I believe that this bill is of such importance that I will not be attempting to rush it through. I will be consulting fully and I will be taking each point of view expressed to me into consideration when assessing what amendments or changes may need to be made to the bill in order to make it more acceptable to a majority of members of the Assembly. Let me be very clear about that point: I will be consulting widely, both within the Assembly and in the wider community, so that every viewpoint is taken into account to ensure that the Assembly eventually passes the best possible piece of legislation.

A number of recent tragedies in Australia have highlighted what I believe is an anomaly in the Crimes Act. In New South Wales recently, Byron Shields, the son of Renee Shields and Ben Allen, lost his life following a hit and run by a drunken driver. Byron died in his mother's womb less than two months prior to his scheduled birth. The driver of the vehicle escaped a conviction for manslaughter because the court ruled that a seven-month-old foetus wasn't human. The New South Wales government announced plans to "review"the Crimes Act following this tragedy. However, with an election around the corner, there is little evidence that the New South Wales government is going to have the courage to do anything about this at all.

Mr Speaker, I don't think the ACT needs to have a similar tragedy before we take action to amend an outdated act. The ACT Legislative Assembly is better than that. I think it is better to look at preventative legislation-legislation that makes the laws clear, that makes people more accountable for their actions and the damage that their actions cause.

This bill is not just about reckless road incidents and other reckless actions: it is also about protecting women in cases of domestic violence. Surveys conducted in Australia indicate that almost one-third of pregnant women had experienced abuse. Broken down, this research also showed that 44 per cent of pregnant teenagers surveyed had been abused. The level of abuse ranged from being pushed, shoved, or slapped, right through to being choked, hit with a fist or even stabbed. Women who experience abuse are more likely to suffer from miscarriages and ongoing gynaecological problems.

Mr Speaker, it is important that we as legislators and as members of the community send a clear message that violence against women is wrong; that violence against pregnant women is an abomination; and what is more, if you do it there may be more serious consequences for you than just a charge of assault-there may be consequences for which you may be held responsible.

Under the current laws, a child is not considered a life until the first breath is taken. It should be noted that this bill does not change that definition, that it does not conflict with that definition. In the drafting of this bill, I have deliberately referred to the unborn child as a "fetus"in order to avoid a conflict with those other provisions of the act.

An unborn child, for the purposes of this bill, is defined as "a fetus at any stage of its development". It is considered that an embryo becomes a foetus sometime between six and eight weeks. I have been careful not to provide a more defined definition, as this is

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