Page 6054 - Week 14 - Thursday, 9 December 2010
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to it and the property is reasonably suspected of being stolen property or property otherwise unlawfully obtained.
The section 324 offence relies on the definition of stolen property currently at section 314 of the code. However, by using this definition, some of the criminal behaviour that is intended to be captured by the offence is excluded. This is because the definition arguably does not capture subsequent receivers of property, apart from the first receiver and the person who appropriated the property.
The exclusion of subsequent receivers of stolen property from the offence is contrary to the intention of the Assembly. In the original explanatory statement the intention of section 324 was to create an offence for a person who has property or who gives possession of that property to a person who is not lawfully entitled to it, if the property is reasonably suspected of being stolen property or property otherwise unlawfully obtained. The section also intended to capture a person who innocently receives stolen goods and who subsequently discovers that the goods are stolen.
The proposed amendment will define stolen property at section 324 to be appropriated property, by adopting the definition at section 304 of the code. This definition will ensure that any person who assumes the rights of an owner to ownership, possession or control of property without the consent of the person who owns the property is captured by the offence. By applying this definition, the original intent of the Assembly will be achieved.
The final amendment is a consequential amendment to the Prostitution Act 1992 to include the new bestiality offence as a disqualifying offence. A disqualifying offence disqualifies people convicted of the offence from becoming or continuing to be an operator, the owner or a director of a commercial brothel or escort agency.
The seven amendments which I have outlined today will ensure that the territory’s justice system encapsulates the conduct which we seek to criminalise, enshrines transparency in its provisions and promotes expediency for the benefit of those who come before the justice system, are invested in it and who are responsible for it. I commend the bill to the Assembly.
Debate (on motion by Mrs Dunne) adjourned to the next sitting.
Electricity Feed-in (Renewable Energy Premium) Amendment Bill 2010
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) (10.36): I move:
That this bill be agreed to in principle.
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