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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2004 Week 10 Hansard (Thursday, 26 August 2004) . . Page.. 4406 ..

relevant offences, including the defence of mistake of fact, which is contained in section 36 of the criminal code, as well as a range of other defences, such as intervening conduct or an event included within section 39 of the criminal code.

The position broadly of the government is that the retention of the imprisonment penalty, and it needs to be emphasised that we are talking about retaining an existing penalty, does reflect the importance of ensuring that the Auditor-General is able to carry out duties effectively. It would be seen as a reduction. The penalties are in any event consistent with penalties that we currently have and there is a range of appropriate defences.

MS TUCKER (9.07): Ms Dundas’s amendments, as she explained, remove the possibility of a prison term being imposed for offences that are deemed to be strict liability. The Greens are sympathetic with that. It is in keeping with the Senate-developed principles for the application of strict liability.

MR SMYTH (Leader of the Opposition) (9.07): The opposition will be supporting the Dundas amendments in this case. I think Ms Dundas made the case quite clearly about imprisoning people for strict liability offences. I take the opportunity to apologise to members. I thought some amendments in my name had been circulated earlier. That is just being done. I will seek to amend the Chief Minister’s amendments which attempt to put in a jail sentence. The opposition will be voting against jail penalties consistently across the night.

MR SPEAKER: Is that in relation to later amendments, Mr Smyth?

MR SMYTH: That will come about later when the Chief Minister moves his amendments, Mr Speaker.

Question put:

That Ms Dundas’s amendments be agreed to.

The Assembly voted—

Question so resolved in the affirmative.

Amendments agreed to.

MS DUNDAS (9.12): I move amendment No 6 circulated in my name [see schedule 4 at page 4467].

Mr Speaker, this amendment is a minor amendment that is meant to clarify the intention of section 14C (3). Whilst the act provides that the Auditor-General may only require people to give evidence at a reasonable time, the proviso of reasonableness is not

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