Page 3743 - Week 10 - Wednesday, 19 September 2018
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
looking at something not as a partisan issue. We are not trying to make politics out of this; we are simply trying to focus the attention of this government on the needs in the community at the moment.
Mr Doszpot, sadly and prophetically, said:
What will it take before both lawmakers and pet owners take appropriate action to stop the disturbingly regular occurrences of dogs attacking people and other canines?
As I said, we all know what the real-world impact of that failure to act was. We know what happened that actually made the government take action once and for all. It was the death of a Canberra woman. Within days of that tragedy in October 2018, the then minister finally announced that the government would consider a range of legal amendments.
What happened next, Madam Speaker? In November, after Mr Doszpot’s death, Mr Coe took up the campaign to have our dog laws improved. Again, the Canberra Liberals took the initiative and brought forward a bill to improve the laws on dog management. The government would have you believe that they instigated this action. It has been through constant pressure from the Canberra Liberals that this has taken place. It was the Canberra Liberals that brought the bill to the Assembly. The government made some amendments, but it was an opposition bill that brought about the changes.
It remains the Canberra Liberals who are responding to the continuing problem of dog management in our city. I wonder what priority this government really places on community safety, on animal welfare and the management of dogs. We have been consulting widely with the community. We have conducted surveys, mobile offices and meetings. Only a few weeks ago we held Canberra-wide pop-up events in every area of Canberra. We talked to dog owners at dog parks, public parks and shopping centres. We have been listening and taking note of the feedback.
We welcome the release earlier this week of the independent expert review into the management of dogs in the ACT. It was spoken about by the government on Monday and we received a copy on Tuesday. This report acknowledges community concern about dog attacks and states that the number of dog attacks and hospital presentations are increasing. It supports the issues that we, the Canberra Liberals, have brought to this place over and over again.
Based on what I have read so far, having got a copy of it only yesterday, we agree with much of what that report says. It was given to the government in April, nearly six months ago. They have had it that long. What have they done with it in that time? That is what I would like to know. Why have they waited? Why did they not release it earlier? Why have they not taken action? What have they done in the past six months or so since they got that report to protect Canberrans and their pets?
The report does acknowledge the important role that pet owners play in the management of dogs. The report said that victims should be informed about the
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video