Page 545 - Week 02 - Tuesday, 10 February 2009
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
MS LE COUTEUR: Yes, I wish to speak on the matter.
MR SPEAKER: Please go ahead.
MS LE COUTEUR: Thank you. The Crimes (Bill Posting) Amendment Act seeks to extend the bill posting offences that already exist under the Crimes Act. It makes illegal bill posting a strict liability offence. It also targets promoters of events and purports to make them liable for illegally posted bills even if they did not take reasonable precautions to ensure the event was promoted cleanly.
The Greens have strong reservations about the government’s approach to bill posting. We believe this bill must be amended to achieve its stated purpose without disproportionately impacting on the rights of ACT citizens or the vitality and culture of our city.
In its current form, the bill is too broad and too heavy handed. The bill essentially enforces a blanket ban on bill posting, covering everyone from the citizen who is trying to find a lost pet to a school promoting an annual fete, from the organiser of a political rally to the commercial operator of a live music event. We believe that applying criminal—
MR SPEAKER: Order! I am sorry, we now have to discuss the motion, not the bill in principle.
MS LE COUTEUR: Sorry, I misunderstood you, Mr Speaker. That was my question: could I speak on the substantive issue?
MR SPEAKER: No. I am sorry if I was unclear. You should speak to the motion rather than to the in-principle stage of the bill.
MS LE COUTEUR: Speaking to Mr Coe’s motion, the Greens also have concerns with this bill. As you would be aware, we intend to move a number of amendments to the bill. However, given that it would appear that those amendments will not get up and also given that we totally agree with the Liberal Party that insufficient consultation has taken part, we in fact have done some consultation of our own. We will be supporting this motion.
MR BARR (Molonglo—Minister for Education and Training, Minister for Children and Young People, Minister for Planning and Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation) (5.50): The Chief Minister is temporarily detained, so I will respond on behalf of the government. It would be clear, from the comments of the Greens and the shadow minister, there is not a majority in the Assembly to proceed with this legislation at this time. Obviously the government is committed to responding to the issues that we have raised through this piece of legislation.
It might well be worth the committee’s time considering also a similar but related matter that this Assembly has dealt with previously, and that is not so much the posting but the placing of leaflets on windscreens. If the principle that has been raised by both the Greens and Mr Coe in their opposition to this bill about restrictions on
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .