Page 3925 - Week 09 - Wednesday, 25 August 2010
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
The government does recognise that, if unchecked, the legislation has the potential, under certain circumstances, to adversely affect some members of the community. Therefore, the proposed new section 24(d)(5) of the amendments prohibits an authorised person or police officer from giving a direction to return a trolley, if it would be a harsh or unreasonable thing to do. The government envisages that this clause would cover situations where, for example, a parent would have to leave young children alone in a car in order to return a trolley to a shopping centre or where a homeless person is using a trolley to transport their belongings. In these circumstances, an authorised person under the act would have the option of issuing a direction that the person return the trolley within a reasonable period of time.
The amendments create a new offence for retailers of failing to keep a shopping trolley identified as belonging to a retailer within the retailer’s shopping centre precinct. During consultation for the bill, small retailers expressed the opinion that they would find it particularly onerous to comply with the requirement to keep their shopping trolleys within shopping centre precincts. Responding to their concerns, the government has included a clause allowing the regulation to exempt a small retailer from the offence of failing to keep a shopping trolley within the retailer’s shopping centre precinct.
The bill and the amendments require retailers to display certain information about the shopping trolleys that they own. The government agrees with all the identification requirements set out in the bill, with one exception. The government has consulted with retailers and supports their concern that it is onerous to have to provide a unique identification number on every shopping trolley that they own. The government amendments therefore remove the requirement for a unique identifier in each trolley but leave in place measures to ensure that the supermarket chain and the relevant contact numbers are identified.
The government believes that it is important that ACT citizens are informed of their obligations under our laws and that retailers are encouraged to remind citizens of their obligations. That is why the government amendments introduce a requirement for a retailer to install a notice at the exit to the retailer’s premises, informing shoppers that fines can apply for taking, using or leaving a shopping trolley outside the shopping centre precinct. The notice will visually define the relevant shopping centre precinct to which it applies. The signage requirement is also intended to build greater awareness among shoppers of the fact that removing trolleys from a shopping centre precinct is an offence. The government hopes that the presence of these notices will lead to a reduction in the number of trolleys being abandoned.
Finally, the government amendments build upon an improved, we believe, procedure, establishing the bill for trolley collection by government officers. The bill and the amendments provide for financial disincentives to deter retailers from leaving their shopping trolleys abandoned on our streets. The bill uses a mix of criminal and civil penalties to retailers, while the government amendments rely solely on civil remedies that we think improve their effectiveness. I believe that to be an appropriate and more equitable response to any retailer’s failure to observe its duty to keep our streets and environment clear of abandoned shopping trolleys.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video