Page 4806 - Week 15 - Thursday, 8 December 1994
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MR CONNOLLY: Madam Speaker, Mr Humphries obviously has done a lot of work on this, to find this funny little point: "Is it not absurd that there is a licence required for air-conditioning but not for brakes?". A licensing regime was introduced for air-conditioning because of particular concerns about the chemical agent in the air-conditioning system which has a very serious environmental effect. Governments around Australia took a coordinated, careful intergovernmental approach, like we take to drug reform, as opposed to the knee-jerk "Let's decriminalise cannabis, let's prescribe cannabis" approach of the local Liberals. That is why we have introduced a licensing scheme for air-conditioning.
Mrs Carnell: So, air-conditioning is more important than brakes?
MR CONNOLLY: Around Australia governments have accepted that we need to license air-conditioning. Should the great misfortune ever befall this Territory that Mrs Carnell is able to do a deal with whomever and become Chief Minister, no doubt on promises of doing all sorts of wacky things, as we have seen in recent weeks, presumably she will stand apart from the COAG approach that every other government has been involved in - to not regulate everything that moves. She will act off the top of the head, do whatever she thinks of that morning, or adopt three positions in a day. Mr Humphries, yes, we are concerned about consumer protection in the motor industry and we have been working with the Motor Trades Association in other areas. We are not convinced that a regulatory approach is the correct approach. Our record on road safety is a very high one. It is one we are very proud of. We want to be more efficient on it and, as I said, it is something on which Mr Lamont has brought forward a very comprehensive and carefully considered paper - again typical of the careful, well considered approach that this Government takes to issues.
Commercial and Retail Tenants Association
MS SZUTY: My question without notice is also to the Minister for consumer affairs, Mr Connolly. Given that the Tenancy Tribunal Act establishes a Tenancy Tribunal and other special procedures for resolving disputes about certain types of leases and provides for a code of practice about such leases and for related purposes, and given that the Commercial and Retail Tenants Association is the organisation best placed to offer information and advice to tenants about the new arrangements, has the Minister given consideration to the funding of CARTA for the provision of this advice to tenants necessitated by the introduction of the new regime?
MR CONNOLLY: It sounds like a funding bid, and we normally do not use question time for funding bids. Certainly, CARTA are working with the Government and with other agencies in the review of that package. That package is not yet in force. It will come into force on 1 January. We have established, as I have said before, a monitoring group, a task force involving CARTA, BOMA and the Canberra Property Owners Association. Members would also be very aware that just recently an all-embracing small business association has sprung into being. There would be a question as to who is the best representative of small business - CARTA or the Canberra Small Business Association. I am not making any commitments at the moment
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