Page 3935 - Week 12 - Thursday, 20 October 2005
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
we stopped to think about what is fair and produce guidelines for the government about the manner in which strict liability offences should be implemented in the ACT. I have argued that this bill should be referred to the legal affairs committee in order to produce those guidelines. The legal affairs committee is a tripartite committee. The government has not taken this advice. It believes that it has done enough work in relation to this bill. However, work on strict liability offences needs to be done on a broader scale.
I also want to point out that Mr Stanhope has not responded to my concerns about the Animal Welfare Advisory Committee and I do hope that, as a result of this debate, he will get in touch with members of AWAC, just so they know what is happening, and advise them about the future of that committee. Hopefully, with time, the legal affairs committee will find a way to provide recommendations to the government on the manner in which strict liability offences should be implemented in the ACT, but I am disappointed that it cannot occur sooner.
Question resolved in the negative.
Detail stage
Bill, by leave, taken as a whole.
MR STANHOPE (Ginninderra—Chief Minister, Attorney-General, Minister for the Environment and Minister for Arts, Heritage and Indigenous Affairs) (12.11): I seek leave to move together amendments Nos 1 to 4 circulated in my name.
Leave granted.
MR STANHOPE: I move amendments Nos 1 to 4 circulated in my name [see schedule 1 at page 4000]. I table a supplementary explanatory statement to the amendments. Amendment No 1 amends an incorrect reference to this act in a note and the amendment in the bill is to a regulation. Amendment No 2 will remove the application of strict liability for this particular offence. Section 14 (6) is an offence that requires a person to notify the construction occupations registrar of any changes in a person’s particulars listed in section 21 (1) (b) of the Electricity Safety Act—that is, name and address, place of business, et cetera—although in most cases the defendant will be aware of a change in these particulars.
Paragraphs (iv) and (v) of section 21 (1) (b) also list any cancellation of a licence and any other particulars prescribed under the principal act as requiring notification. These are matters that a person may not be aware of or may not become aware of within seven days. Accordingly, strict liability has been removed. Amendment No 3 is a consequential amendment to renumber the subsections upon republication. With the removal of strict liability by the previous amendment, the renumbering is no longer required. Amendment No 4 is an amendment to insert a penalty clause that was inadvertently omitted during the drafting of the bill.
MR STEFANIAK (Ginninderra) (12.13): The opposition will be supporting these amendments.
Amendments agreed to.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .