Page 48 - Week 01 - Tuesday, 16 February 1993
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STATUTE LAW REVISION (MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS)
BILL (NO. 2) 1992
Debate resumed from 10 December 1992, on motion by Mr Connolly:
That this Bill be agreed to in principle.
MR HUMPHRIES (8.03): I indicate at the outset that, although the Liberal Party is not going to oppose this Bill, we are opposed to the principle of omnibus legislation of this kind. The reason is stated fairly clearly in our legislative affairs policy. I think we are the only party in this place to have a legislative affairs policy.
Mr Berry: Oh! That is a bit rough.
MR HUMPHRIES: Where is yours? Put it on the table. Our policy states:
Each amending Bill shall, wherever practicable, amend only one Act of the legislature.
This is because, for a person who might care to use legislation passed by this Assembly, omnibus legislation, legislation amending a whole series of Acts, brings immense complexity. A person who seeks to know what the law of the Territory is on any given day asks, "Where do I find amendments to laws? Where do I find an accurate statement of what the law is today?". Regrettably, because of the nature of the process, those amendments are great in number, particularly for laws which have not been reprinted for some time - and, regrettably, there is a large number of them. Therefore, discovering all the amendments that might touch on a law is a very great task.
If I have an up-to-date document entitled "The Alphabetical Table of Laws made from 1 January 1911", then I am greatly assisted, because this document - which I gather is published and distributed by the Australian Government Publishing Service or some like body - tells me what laws are in force in the Territory and indicates what amendments have been passed since the original Act was enacted and which Acts touch on that particular enactment. If that tool is out of date - and of course there is the risk that on any given day the tool will be out of date - it must be an inadequate tool because it might not be accurate or reflect what the law I have in front of me actually says.
There have been very many amendments to laws which have not recently been considered by this Assembly. Looking through that alphabetical table, I see, for example, that there have been no fewer than 14 separate amendments to the Electricity and Water Act 1988. The Act is less than five years old, yet it has already had 14 amendments made to it. To be sure that I know what the law is with respect to electricity and water I have to find the original Act plus 14 separate amendments. That may be a task which I can accomplish; it may not be. For me as a lawyer, with the resources of the Assembly's secretariat very generously supplied, it is not quite so difficult.
Mr Berry: Overgenerously supplied.
MR HUMPHRIES: "Overgenerously", says the Deputy Chief Minister. He is obviously anxious about the amount of information that the Opposition is getting.
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