Page 2824 - Week 10 - Tuesday, 13 September 1994

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PHYSIOTHERAPISTS (AMENDMENT) BILL 1994

Debate resumed from 16 June 1994, on motion by Mr Connolly:

That this Bill be agreed to in principle.

Question resolved in the affirmative.

Bill agreed to in principle.

Leave granted to dispense with the detail stage.

Bill agreed to.

CREDIT (AMENDMENT) BILL 1994

Debate resumed from 16 June 1994, on motion by Mr Connolly:

That this Bill be agreed to in principle.

MR HUMPHRIES (8.07): Mr Acting Speaker, this Bill makes a large number of changes to the Credit Act 1985. Most of those changes are technical and are designed to remove sexist language. The Credit Act is a complex piece of legislation. I suspect that it causes major headaches for financial institutions and is pretty well unknown. It is pretty well unknown to most credit purchasers in this community. Perhaps the only value in embarking on credit counselling and education, as this Bill, in fact, does, is to provide some more light on some of the more obscure provisions in this Credit Act, which is now, of course, being a 10-year-old Act, of long standing in the ACT. The Act's vicissitudes, however, are not an issue in tonight's debate.

I note the Attorney-General's comments in his presentation speech that the Government is working with others to try to create uniform legislation around Australia, and that, of course, is a matter to be applauded. This will be by legislation introduced into the Queensland Parliament, I understand, later this year.

Mr Connolly: It was introduced last week.

MR HUMPHRIES: It has been introduced and may well be adopted by other jurisdictions by reference at some point in the future. This will also, of course, occur, according to the Government's plans, at least in the ACT. There is before us tonight for debate a ministerial statement which also concerns uniform legislation but is in slightly different terms. The Credit Act in its present form may well, therefore, be on its way out. Nonetheless, we have amendments to it, I assume, to conform with changes being made in other jurisdictions. That is why we are dealing with those at this stage, rather than leaving it until the uniform Bill is available. Perhaps the Minister can enlighten us on that matter when he rises to close the debate.


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