Page 284 - Week 01 - Thursday, 11 December 2008
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Murder is regarded as the most serious of all criminal offences. There has been strong concern voiced in our community over recent months that our legislation does not adequately cover the circumstances in which the taking of a life can be classified as murder. This bill is a response to those concerns.
The current provision for murder allows it to be found when the person who causes the death of another does so with the intention of causing death, or being reckless as to the likelihood that death will result from their actions. The third limb that is contained in the bill is that a person who takes a life when they had the intention to cause serious harm to another is also guilty of murder.
Serious harm is harm that endangers or is likely to endanger life, or harm that is, or is likely to be, significant and longstanding. This amendment bill will bring the ACT into line with all other Australian jurisdictions. It is a further step in ensuring that the laws of the ACT reflect the wishes and views of the broader ACT community. I commend the bill to the Assembly.
Debate (on motion by Mrs Dunne) adjourned to the next sitting.
Classification (Publications, Films and Computer Games) (Enforcement) Amendment Bill 2008 (No 2)
Mr Corbell, pursuant to notice, presented the bill, its explanatory statement and a Human Rights Act compatibility statement.
Title read by Clerk.
MR CORBELL (Molonglo—Attorney-General, Minister for the Environment, Climate Change and Water, Minister for Energy and Minister for Police and Emergency Services) (10.46): I move:
That this bill be agreed to in principle.
Today I present the Classification (Publications, Films and Computer Games) (Enforcement) Amendment Bill 2008 (No 2). This bill was first presented on 3 April 2008 but lapsed at the end of the Sixth Assembly. The bill makes a number of amendments to the Classification (Publications, Films and Computer Games) (Enforcement) Act 1995 that are complementary to amendments already made in the Commonwealth Classification (Publications, Films and Computer Games) Act 1995.
The scheme for classification of publications, films and computer games is a cooperative one, underpinned by the commonwealth act and the states and territories classification enforcement legislation. The Classification (Publications, Films and Computer Games) (Enforcement) Act 1995 provides for the implementation in the ACT of the classification material in accordance with the national classification code and the guidelines made under the commonwealth act. In particular, it provides restrictions and conditions on the sale and possession of films, computer games and certain publications, the way in which material may be advertised and exemptions of material and organisations from the classifications regime.
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