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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2003 Week 7 Hansard (26 June) . . Page.. 2535 ..
MR STANHOPE
(continuing):Bill 2002. During the debate it was agreed that subclause 338 (4) should be deleted. Inadvertently, all of clause 338, which provides for the grounds for winding up, the transfer of engagements and the appointment of an administrator, was deleted. The amendment to the Cooperatives Act 2002 rectifies this error.
Fair Trading Act 1992
The amendments will remove any doubt that the Magistrates Court's power to grant relief under the act also includes the power to enforce any orders for relief made and also includes the power to make preliminary and procedural orders.Fair Trading (Consumer Affairs) Act 1973
The amendment to the Fair Trading (Consumer Affairs) Act 1973 will permit the minister and the Commissioner for Fair Trading to make public statements where it's in the public interest to do so. These statements will identify, warn or inform the community about consumer protection matters, including any of the following:goods that are unsatisfactory or dangerous and the people who supply them;
services that are supplied in an incompetent manner by traders who continually ignore court orders or the imposition of penalties; or
unfair business practices and the people who engage in them.
For such public interest statements to be viable, the bill provides immunity from liability for statements that are made honestly and without negligence as well as clarifying that any publication of warning statements will attract the protection for actions against defamation provided by section 61 of the Civil Law (Wrongs) Act 2002 and section 31 of the Defamation (Criminal Proceedings) Act 2001.
The bill also provides that the Fair Trading (Consumer Affairs) Regulations can adopt consumer product safety standards produced by standard-setting organisations and provides the regulations can include offences, with penalties not exceeding 20 penalty units.
Leases (Commercial and Retail) Act 2001
The amendments will remove any doubt that the Magistrates Court's power to grant relief under the act also includes the power to enforce any orders for relief made and also includes the power to make preliminary and procedural orders.Legal Practitioners Act 1970
Section 200 of the Legal Practitioners Act 1970 requires unclaimed moneys to be paid to the ACT by payment to the Chief Executive. In December 2000 the Public Trustee assumed responsibility for the functions of what was the Registrar of Unclaimed Moneys. However, a strict reading of section 200 of the act provides no basis for payments to be made to the Public Trustee. The amendment corrects this anomaly by allowing payments to be made to the Public Trustee rather than to the Chief Executive.
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