Page 5306 - Week 17 - Thursday, 13 December 1990
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impossible to line up with New South Wales until our demerit scheme is in place. Until my colleague, Mr Duby, has his computer system in place, there will be a number of somewhat esoteric potentialities that have all been mapped out to me.
The last thing I am going to do is to tell the community what those potential situations are, except to say that, from long and difficult discussions that we have had with our advisers, they are not easily soluble. It would be best, in fact, if we stick to what we are doing, and for Mr Duby and his officials to get their computer and software up for the demerit scheme, so that we are then fully in line with the uniformity of the proposal reached in Perth under the Prime Minister's initiative.
Certainly, it is our policy proposal that persons in the .05 to .08 category be treated as an isolated class. You have to keep that in mind, because if you treat it as anything else there are interesting scenarios that will attract some of the eager beavers in the local legal profession. Since our good friend Mr Higgins - now Mr Justice Higgins - is no longer practising at the bar, I feel somewhat protected in that regard for at least 12 months, although I mean no disrespect to other colleagues in practice.
The comments made by my colleague, Mrs Nolan, were particularly welcome because they bring home the social nature of our legislation. The Bill further provides that first offenders in the .05 category who record between .05 and .08 be subject to an on-the-spot fine. Repeat offenders in the same circumstances will be subject to a court imposed fine and automatic licence suspension up to six months or licence cancellation.
I emphasise to members that this is a transitional measure for the next 12 months, pending the introduction of the points demerit scheme. Such offenders will then be subject to a fine and six demerit points as an added deterrent. The accumulation of 12 demerit points within three years will result in automatic licence cancellation.
As a consequence of this Bill we firmly hope that the public will have an increased awareness of the hazards of drinking and driving, and that this will be instilled in young novice drivers, particularly from the commencement of their driving experience. Any measures which add to our aim to increase public safety and reduce the road toll will, we trust, be supported wholeheartedly by the community. We trust that some of the potentially interesting and cute scenarios that may arise in the next 12 months - depending on where an offence is committed in Australia, and whether there is a certain conjunction and sequence of offences in this Territory - do not impact largely on the effectiveness of this legislation.
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