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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2003 Week 10 Hansard (24 September) . . Page.. 3583 ..

MS GALLAGHER (continuing):

associated with the fact that the Dangerous Goods Act is based on New South Wales laws from the mid-1970s.

It is a bit of a shame that we do not have our legislation so that we can compare it with the Liberals' approach to this, and so that people can see what the government is planning. However, I have certainly done what I can to let members know what we are planning and that it will be not only a comprehensive redrafting of the current legislation, but will include new provisions to bring us up to speed with the environment in which we live in 2003.

What we will be producing will be a significant piece of legislation. It is necessary that we do this work and that we do not rush it, so that it is not poorly considered. I have to say that, for the people who are working on this legislation and who have spent significant amounts of time on this legislation, it is an extremely complex job. Looking at the regulations, all the amendments that need to be done and the national work-it is not something that we were able to just snap our fingers and pull out.

We did try to implement some of the changes for this year's June long weekend. We were not successful because they were not in legislation. There was some court action that occurred which I feel certainly complicated what happened on the weekend. The government was saying, "This is what we want to do. This is what we are doing,"then the long weekend happened and we were not able to enforce it because it was not in legislation. Certainly, since that time, the department working on this has really worked consistently to get this legislation all pulled together so that it can be considered in time for the changes to be implemented by the June long weekend next year.

It is extremely complex work. When other jurisdictions have been looking at the whole issue of dangerous substances, it has taken them a number of years. With what we are doing here in the ACT, the legislative reform process started following the standing committee's report last year. We are certainly looking to have legislation in the chamber, but also debated, by the end of this year. These people are working very hard to make sure the legislation can be debated and in place in time for next year's June long weekend.

At the same time, there is a need to look at some of the concerns of the fireworks industry, to give them time to be part of this legislative reform. We must talk to them about ways in which we can create a balance where people, for one week of the year, under our proposed legislation, can purchase a consumer-type firework-which will be defined in the new act-that they can use at certain times. The retailers-the licence holders-will be able to sell these products during that time.

We do need to tighten up the sale and regulation of fireworks. We have already indicated that we are going to do that. At the same time, we will look at the industry's rights and its responsibilities in dealing with licensed pyrotechnics, and how we make that part of the business work, but work in a safe way for the broader community. That is where we are looking at banning the retail premises from built-up areas. We are looking at requiring, through this new legislation, that licence holders store their explosives in a safe magazine-type facility, which meets, at the minimum, the Australian standards. Then, licensed pyrotechnicians wanting to legally purchase those fireworks will be able to do so, but not just by walking into a shopfront.

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