Page 2477 - Week 09 - Wednesday, 7 August 1991
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Wednesday, 7 August 1991
________________________
MR SPEAKER (Mr Prowse) took the chair at 10.30 am and read the prayer.
TEMPORARY DEPUTY SPEAKER
MR SPEAKER: Members, I wish to inform the Assembly that, pursuant to standing order 8, I have nominated Mrs Grassby as a Temporary Deputy Speaker. She will take the chair when requested by either me or the Deputy Speaker. Standing order 8 disqualified Mr Wood from remaining as Temporary Deputy Speaker on his appointment as a Minister. I present my warrant nominating Mrs Grassby.
POLICE OFFENCES (AMENDMENT) BILL 1991
MR STEFANIAK (10.31): Mr Speaker, I present the Police Offences (Amendment) Bill 1991. I move:
That this Bill be agreed to in principle.
Mr Speaker, this Bill's history goes back to the time when we used to have move-on powers in other forms of legislation in Canberra; but, as a result of, I think, some ill-judged deletions and so-called reforms in the mid-80s by the Federal Government, this provision was deleted. That left a gap. The Australian Federal Police, since about 1987, were very, very concerned about that gap. On 28 June 1989 I introduced a private members' Bill which was subsequently amended as a result of a committee, and that Bill became law in August 1989 and was gazetted on 6 September 1989.
In that Bill, which is section 35 of the Police Offences Act, there is a sunset clause which is to cause that part of the Act to expire at midnight on 5 September 1991; hence this Bill, which is to delete the sunset clause and enable this very necessary and successful piece of legislation to continue.
The basic rationale behind the Bill can be summed up, I think, by the police report to the select committee that looked at introducing the Bill. I was the chairman of that committee and I was joined by my colleagues Mr Collaery and Ms Maher on that committee. The police outlined the need for this useful law enforcement tool. This is the current and most recent police report, which I will hand up to the Assembly but which Mr Connolly has already provided to members of the Assembly. It states:
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