Page 733 - Week 03 - Wednesday, 24 March 1993
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Question put:
That the motion (Mr Cornwell's) be agreed to.
The Assembly voted -
AYES, 7 NOES, 9
Mrs Carnell Mr Berry
Mr Cornwell Mr Connolly
Mr De Domenico Ms Ellis
Mr Humphries Ms Follett
Mr Kaine Mrs Grassby
Mr Moore Mr Lamont
Mr Westende Ms McRae
Ms Szuty
Mr Wood
Question so resolved in the negative.
MENTAL HEALTH LEGISLATION
Debate resumed from 21 October 1992, on motion by Mrs Carnell:
That:
(1) the Government proceed quickly to a Bill for a new Mental Health Act;
(2) the Government have the draft Bill ready for consideration by the new Mental Health Advisory Council within the next two months; and
(3) recommendations from the report Balancing Rights (November 1990) constitute the basis of the new Act.
MR CONNOLLY (Attorney-General, Minister for Housing and Community Services and Minister for Urban Services) (11.55): I seem to recall that I was cut off in my prime while haranguing the Liberals on this motion some months ago. Since we last debated this motion, of course, there has been the sort of silent, steady progress that we always indicated that we would be making on this difficult and almost intractable issue of mental health reform.
Mental health reform, like many matters that the Liberals had carriage of, is one that the Liberals were unable to progress very far. It is an issue that Mr Berry and I have repeatedly said that we are making a priority during this term of government, and we are indeed making progress. On 17 February Mr Berry made a ministerial statement in this place on the Government's response to the Balancing Rights report. That statement made it abundantly clear that the Government was moving quickly to reform the law in this area, thus satisfying paragraph (1) of the motion, and made it abundantly clear that the Government was taking the Balancing Rights process as the basis for its reform process, thus satisfying paragraph (3) of the motion.
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