Page 1564 - Week 06 - Thursday, 3 May 1990
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available. We believe it will be sometime in the next few months. As that will be an important part of our thinking, we do not wish to proceed until that has arrived.
In our consideration we wondered whether we should set a date to extend this report or to leave it open. There were arguments of some worth for and against on each side. In the end we agreed to set a new reporting date of 29 November, substantially on the grounds that we wanted to indicate to the parliament and to the community that we do have a commitment, we do have a deadline we wish to meet, but we are still in the hands of other reports. We hope to meet that deadline. The NHMRC meets ahead of that time and perhaps by that date the report from the US will have been received and evaluated locally. That is the background, and I hope that the Assembly will accept the explanation that has been given.
Question resolved in the affirmative.
LEGAL AFFAIRS - STANDING COMMITTEE
Inquiry
MR COLLAERY (Attorney-General), by leave: Mr Speaker, in the early days of the Assembly we thought about creating a legal affairs committee. It is now established. I think it is an evolutionary thing that we should develop some procedures such as exist over in the other parliament so that there is some connection between this committee in terms of the references it takes on and any references that might be given by the Government to the law reform committee. In this particular case I draw the attention of the house to the Government's announcement on 20 March 1990 that the community law reform committee would be established.
In Hansard at page 553 there was a reference to the fact that defamation reform was a priority concern along with, for example, landlord and tenant reform. I understand that this reference that the committee may take on may overlap the intended operations of the law reform committee. In these early days of the interrelationship between the standing committee of this Assembly and the outside law reform committee, I believe it is incumbent on all parties to get some lines of communication going on these issues.
Mr Speaker, I welcome this reference by the committee. I trust that it will result in a reference to the broader and wider community based consultative committee of any concerns on defamation that particularly relate to activity in the Assembly, for example, or matters relating thereto. I do not think it is suggested that this reference is intended to take on the function that the Government has already announced in relation to a reference to the law reform committee.
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