Page 4102 - Week 14 - Thursday, 25 October 1990
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In 1985 the ACT and the adjoining Yarrowlumla Shire experienced the impact of one of the worst fire seasons on record. A shortcoming identified after that season was the lack of legal protection for New South Wales firefighters entering the ACT, although ACT firefighters were fully protected legally when they entered New South Wales under New South Wales bushfire legislation. Obviously fires do not recognise borders; therefore it is essential that every effort be made to ensure the highest level of cooperation and dispel any confusion during such emergencies. This cross-border anomaly is rectified within the Bill. The Bill also addresses the term of office of the Bush Fire Council by extending the term from one year to three years, and providing for the chairman and deputy chairman to be appointed by the Minister. I commend this Bill to the Assembly. I now present the explanatory memorandum for this Bill.
Debate (on motion by Mrs Grassby) adjourned.
CONSUMER AFFAIRS (AMENDMENT) BILL 1990
Debate resumed from 18 October 1990, on motion by Mr Collaery:
That this Bill be agreed to in principle.
MR CONNOLLY (11.09): Mr Speaker, the Opposition supports this amendment to the Consumer Affairs Act. It is, as the Attorney-General explained in presenting the Bill, essentially a mechanical amendment which makes changes that are consequent upon self-government. While at first glance there may appear to be grounds for opposing this Bill in that it is replacing a statutory advisory council, with real power to issue notices in relation to consumer products, with a purely advisory body and vesting power in the Minister, in truth that type of advisory council is no longer appropriate in a self-governing Territory.
In the pre-self-government era it was appropriate for powers which affect the public to be vested in community bodies so that the population of the Territory had some say in the exercise of those powers. Now that we have a self-governing body politic in this Territory it is more appropriate that that type of power which would be vested in a Minister in the other States or Territories be vested in that Minister who is in turn accountable to the Assembly.
It is pleasing that while making this mechanical change provision has been made for the retention of an advisory body. The Opposition has long stressed the need for consultation and for more open styles of government - a subject canvassed at some depth in the Leader of the Opposition's noted speech at the Canberra University this year. Generally Opposition members support more open and
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