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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 9 Hansard (28 August) . . Page.. 2662 ..

Mr De Domenico: So would a car.

MS HORODNY: No, a car would not, Mr De Domenico. You need to go and do some homework. Some trucks are left idling for up to half an hour, which would be totally in breach of this Bill. The Noise Control Act provides for the preparation of a noise control manual, a disallowable instrument, which contains details of the procedures to be followed in measuring noise. This manual already exists, although I note that it has not been updated since 1990. If this Bill is passed, then I would expect the Government to amend the existing manual to reflect the changes to the Act.

In conclusion, let me say that this Bill does not provide all the solutions to truck parking, but it is a very good start. It is certainly more than the Government is prepared to do to assist the many residents of Canberra who are suffering from the negative impacts of large, smelly trucks being parked in their supposedly quiet neighbourhoods. I commend this Bill to the Assembly.

Debate (on motion by Mr De Domenico) adjourned.

MR MOORE (10.51): I present the Medical Treatment (Amendment) Bill 1996.

Title read by Clerk.

MR MOORE: I move:

That this Bill be agreed to in principle.

In introducing this Bill, Mr Speaker, I would like to point out that there are two main parts to the Bill. The first one deals with the issue of pain relief and the second deals with broadening the scope of advance directives, which are also called living wills. I will come back to the second part, the broadening of the scope. I will deal first with the issue of pain relief, which is the issue that has already received a substantial amount of publicity. There has been a move throughout our community to more patient autonomy, particularly with reference to the issue of pain. Only the patient knows whether or not he or she is in tolerable pain. We ought to be aware that almost everybody has a different level of pain tolerance.

This issue of pain is a particularly interesting issue and was the subject of considerable discussion in the Select Committee on Euthanasia. I will come back to the report of the Select Committee on Euthanasia because I have introduced a Bill which is consistent with the recommendations of that select committee. The Bill removes a modification made by Mr Terry Connolly. He added a test for pain. I think the most important thing that we deal with in the initial instance is this issue of power and the autonomy of the patient.

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