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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2003 Week 10 Hansard (24 September) . . Page.. 3578 ..

MR STEFANIAK (continuing):

My apologies for not having an explanatory memorandum but this one is relatively simple. I will just go through the bill clause by clause. The name of the bill is basic enough, as is the commencement date and as is, of course, the act amended, as this bill amends our Drugs of Dependence Act of 1989.

The substantive parts of the bill are in clause 4, "Cultivation of prohibited plants Section 162 (2), penalty, paragraph (a)". In section 162 (2) (a), the act currently reads:

A person shall not cultivate, or participate in the cultivation of, a prohibited plant.

Maximum penalty:

(a) if not more than 5 cannabis plants are cultivated-1 penalty unit

or $100. My bill will substitute for "if not more than five cannabis plants are cultivated-1 penalty unit"the words "if not more than five cannabis plants are cultivated-1 penalty unit for each cannabis plant cultivated".

We then come to clause 5, dealing with prohibited substances, possession, administration and disposal, which amends section 171 (1) (a) of the act. Currently, that particular subsection reads:

A person shall not possess a prohibited substance.

Maximum penalty:

(a) if the offence relates to a quantity of cannabis not exceeding 25g in mass-1 penalty unit

or $100. I would substitute "if not more than 25g of cannabis is possessed-2 penalty units"; in other words, $200 there.

We then progress to clause 6 in my bill, which deals with offence notices in section 171A (3) (c) of the act. That currently enables an offender to pay the prescribed penalty within 60 days of the date of service of the notice. That is a strange provision. I am somewhat uncertain about why this act is completely out of kilter with virtually every other infringement notice. We get 28 days to pay for infringements notices concerning parking offences. I think traffic offence infringements must also be paid for within 28 days. Virtually every other act stipulates payment within 28 days. What I seek to do there is omit the 60 days and substitute 28 days. That would bring this infringement notice scheme into line with other infringement notice schemes. I think that is a very important thing to do.

Finally, section 171A (8) currently reads, "In relation to a simple cannabis offence, the prescribed penalty is $100."That relates to subsection (7), which deals with and defines simple cannabis offences. They are offences, under section 162 (2), of cultivating or of participating in the cultivation of not more than five plants. That is the first one. The second and third are:

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