Page 4244 - Week 11 - Thursday, 17 Sept 2009
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implementation by the states and territories. For example, the bill contains enforcement provisions that reflect the standard provisions for ACT legislation, particularly provisions about the issue of a search warrant and the powers that may be exercised under the warrant. Other examples of local differences are the time within which a prosecution may be commenced for an alleged offence in the period under section 192 of the Legislation Act. The model provision for the recovery of costs in criminal proceedings has not been included in the bill. The ACT’s criminal law policy is that the territory should bear its own costs for prosecutions.
In this context I mention to the Assembly the amendments that I will be moving arising from the scrutiny committee’s report on the bill. These amendments are essentially reflective of the different legislative standards that apply in the ACT and indicate the value provided by the independent scrutiny of legislation which the committee carries out.
As members will see from my reply to the committee, the government has accepted the major concerns raised by the committee. They are the subject of the amendments which I have circulated and which we will debate in the detail stage. I note that Mr Coe has similarly moved an amendment on an issue that I proposed. I will defer to Mr Coe and support the amendment which he has just now circulated.
The bill, when enacted, will be supported by regulations to be based on model regulations which will deal with things such as transport operation, for example, packaging, labelling and marketing, transport procedures, documentation and emergencies. The duties of the various parties in a dangerous goods road transport transaction, for example, the consignor, prime contractor, loader and driver would also be set out.
The regulations will be supported by the seventh edition of the Australian dangerous goods code. While the regulations will contain the obligations and duties of the various people involved in the transport of dangerous goods, the code is a purely technical document setting out such things as the design approval and use of road tank vehicles for transporting dangerous goods; the standards for the use of freight containers for dangerous goods; the testing of any packaging for dangerous goods; the placarding of loads of dangerous goods with emergency information panels; the segregation of dangerous goods within loads; the provision of emergency information; the requirement for the bulk transfer of dangerous goods and the safety equipment required to be carried by a vehicle carrying dangerous goods.
The important feature of the Australian dangerous goods code is that it ensures that Australia’s technical requirements for the road transport of dangerous goods are generally consistent with the recommendations of the United Nations Committee of Experts on the Transport of Dangerous Goods. However, the commencement of the new legislation will not immediately render redundant things that are compliant with the previous edition’s code, but not complaint with the seventh edition of the code. Clause 501 of the bill provides for a transition period of one year, which will allow for the technical aspects of the carriage of dangerous goods to be brought into line with the seventh edition of the code.
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