Page 1803 - Week 05 - Thursday, 16 May 2019
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Both the firearms and the unexplained wealth amendments in this bill follow on the government’s strong program of giving police the resources they need, implementing proven law reforms and aggressively pursuing the financial proceeds of crime. Our intent is clear—we will keep going after what organised crime groups need to operate in the ACT and we will take it away from them.
Finally, this bill contains amendments that improve the administration of our justice system more broadly. There are amendments in this bill regarding police powers to enforce bail conditions. These amendments are in response to the recent ACT Court of Appeal case of Andrews v Thomson.
That case involved a highly technical analysis of the drafting of the Bail Act. As a result there has been ongoing litigation about the scope of police powers to enter a house and arrest someone for breaching bail conditions. The current legal position is that police can enter any place at any time to arrest someone who breached a bail condition. These amendments provide legislative criteria that are derived from the existing powers to enter and arrest people for suspected crimes. ACT Policing’s advice to government is that they work well in practice.
Police are experienced in applying these kinds of laws, and they provide a fair and reasonable framework to preserve human rights. These amendments will mean that police can enforce bail conditions with certainty and uphold and protect human rights against unreasonable searches.
This bill also gives effect to a government decision about food safety. In 2017 the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code was varied to allow the sale of low THC hemp seeds as food. This reflects the fact that these seeds contain an insignificant amount of psychoactive THC. These amendments ensure that our drug laws are consistent with that position.
The change comes with a provision to ensure that people cannot defeat drug driving charges by claiming they ate hemp foods. The scientific evidence is clear that consumption of these products cannot result in a positive roadside drug test. A change to the food standards code should not become a creative excuse for people who are caught drug driving.
Taken as a whole, this bill represents another example of the government’s ongoing attention to the criminal justice system. We will keep listening to our community, to police and to others to ensure our laws deliver the results we expect. I commend the bill to the Assembly.
Debate (on motion by Mr Hanson) adjourned to the next sitting.
Climate Change and Greenhouse Gas Reduction (Renewable Electricity Target) Amendment Bill 2019
Mr Rattenbury, pursuant to notice, presented the bill, its explanatory statement and a Human Rights Act compatibility statement.
Title read by Clerk.
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