Page 1872 - Week 07 - Tuesday, 14 June 1994
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Mrs Carnell: And you had to fix it up.
Mr Cornwell: Where is it?
MR LAMONT: There was an undertaking by him that once that Bill was tabled we would embark upon wide consultation on it within the community. It was proposed that it be complementary legislation to procedures introduced by the Commonwealth. A consultative committee, chaired by Sue Baker-Finch, the chairperson of the ACT Sport and Recreation Council, was established to work with the sporting community and to advise the Government on the form of the agreement with the Commonwealth's Australian Sports Drug Agency. At the same time, the Commonwealth was preparing a number of technical amendments to the Australian Sports Drug Agency Act to give competitors tested under State and Territory legislation access to the same Commonwealth appeal provisions contained in that Act. There have now been further discussions with other States and the Commonwealth on the consistency of drafting of complementary legislation.
Madam Speaker, as you would be aware, there are a number of governments in Australia who sit within chambers where they do not have a majority. Therefore, to be able to give an unequivocal undertaking to the Commonwealth to introduce mirror legislation is, at times, difficult. I think that needs to be recognised. I have written to the Commonwealth and State Sport Ministers seeking a deferral, at least at this stage, of the introduction or the attempted introduction of such complementary legislation until the Sport Ministers meeting in July, where I have proposed that we have the States work under one Commonwealth piece of legislation and have the Australian Sports Drug Agency as the appropriate testing authority.
What we then need is consistency in how we deal with results. It would be ridiculous to have a track and field athlete in Queensland who returned a positive sample for a performance enhancing drug treated differently from a similar athlete in the ACT.
Mrs Carnell: That is what Mr Berry's Bill did.
MR LAMONT: We need to ensure that there is consistency. To provide for that, Mrs Carnell, we need to ensure that there is one single piece of legislation. I propose not to proceed with the Bill in the Assembly until after the July Sport Ministers meeting, where I hope we are able to gain agreement from all States and Territories to adopt the Commonwealth legislation and to allow for consistency to be imparted by the Australian Sports Drug Agency. In particular, Madam Speaker, I have requested the consultative committee from the Sport and Recreation Council to develop the guidelines that I will take to the Sport Ministers meeting in July. Considerable work has been done. I believe that the initiative shown by the Territory in seeking to have consistency applied right across Australia is an appropriate course of action for us to take. As soon as I have returned from the Sport Ministers meeting in July, I undertake to brief the Independents and the Abolish Self Government Coalition about activities there; I also undertake to brief Mr De Domenico.
MADAM SPEAKER: Order! It being 3.00 pm, I call the Chief Minister.
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