Page 4815 - Week 13 - Thursday, 28 November 2019
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make many avenues unavailable to government. The provision is administratively unworkable and it is likely to render the provision ineffective. Does Mr Parton really want to water down the bill so much that it cannot be used? Does he really think that the directors of building companies should not be held accountable?
Amendment 5 does something similar to amendment 4, putting in a manual process where one should not and does not exist. ACAT does not transfer the amount; it happens by the operation of the law.
Amendment 6 would require the territory to satisfy itself that all reasonable grounds have been exhausted, but the same issues occur. It is a vague provision that is not well defined. It is poorly considered, poorly expressed and again shows that Mr Parton does not understand how the law works.
I would suggest that if Mr Parton wants to create a process, he does so thoughtfully. He should learn how the system works and draft legislation that sets this out, rather than trying to make the system unworkable so that builders cannot be held to account.
MS LE COUTEUR (Murrumbidgee) (5.59): As I indicated earlier, the Greens will not be supporting these amendments. While we have some concerns about the retrospectivity, we think that, in the circumstances, it is probably reasonable, given that the actions were clearly illegal, anyway. Amendments 4 to 6 could possibly have some merit, but while this is not Mr Parton’s fault, as I said, the drafting will probably lead to some unacceptable side consequences. I appreciate Mr Parton’s and PCO’s issues in this regard.
Amendments negatived.
Bill, as a whole, agreed to.
Bill agreed to.
Adjournment
Motion (by Mr Steel) proposed:
That the Assembly do now adjourn.
Valedictory
MR RATTENBURY (Kurrajong—Minister for Climate Change and Sustainability, Minister for Corrections and Justice Health, Minister for Justice, Consumer Affairs and Road Safety and Minister for Mental Health) (6.01): I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone that I have worked with this year, both as a minister in the government and in my role as a crossbench member for the Greens. We have achieved a lot in the past year and I am proud of that. There have also been many challenges. As always, we could not have achieved what we did or met the challenges without the vital assistance, advice and support of a whole range of people.
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