Page 4418 - Week 12 - Thursday, 24 October 2019
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scheme fairer and more generous for injured people who potentially were already struggling.
I was very interested in how the bill before us was going to change that part of the Motor Accident Injuries Act. I am pleased to say that I have met with the government about the change that is proposed in the bill and I have clarified that this does not impact in any negative way on the superannuation amendment that the Assembly supported. It is merely a technical amendment to ensure that the calculation of superannuation payments for low income people can work effectively. With that amendment clarified, I am happy to support the bill today.
MR RAMSAY (Ginninderra—Attorney-General, Minister for the Arts, Creative Industries and Cultural Events, Minister for Building Quality Improvement, Minister for Business and Regulatory Services and Minister for Seniors and Veterans) (6.04), in reply: I thank members for their support and for their speeches. The Statute Law Amendment Bill is a further step in the government’s measures to develop a simpler, more coherent and accessible statute book for the territory. It makes technical but important improvements to legislation. This program is an efficient mechanism to take care of non-controversial, minor and technical amendments to a range of territory legislation. It ensures that the ACT legislation maintains its high quality and it conserves the resources that would otherwise be needed if each amendment was considered individually.
As the statute book has been created from various jurisdictional sources over a long period, it reflects the various drafting practices and different language usages, printing formats and styles throughout the years. It is important to maintain a minimum consistent standard in presentation and cohesion in legislation coming from different sources at different times. The amendments have been fully outlined in my earlier speech and the explanatory statement. Because of that, and the time of the day and the state of my voice, I will not be going through them in any further detail.
Schedule 1 of the bill makes minor amendments to the function of a series of acts. Schedule 3 makes common-sense corrections and updates to reflect the evolving nature of our laws. Continued societal and technological developments mean that our laws need to keep pace; this is one of the ways that the government efficiently makes sure that we do precisely that.
Madam Speaker, it may well be that in a SLAB the amendments do not have you on the edge of your seat, but they make a real difference for the individuals that rely on the legislation day to day. They ensure that we avoid outdated provisions causing potentially harmful confusion for years to come. I express my appreciation for members’ support and again affirm that this is another way of the government striving for the best and leading the way with a modern, high quality, up-to-date and easily accessible statute book. I commend the bill to the Assembly.
Question resolved in the affirmative.
Bill agreed to in principle.
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