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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2000 Week 11 Hansard (28 November) . . Page.. 3268 ..

MR CORBELL (continuing):

Tail docking does not provide any useful purpose. It is essentially a cruel practice and it is not one that we in the territory should be supporting. For that reason, the Labor Party is very pleased to be able to support the proposed amendment to the Animal Welfare Act that deals with that practice. In saying that, it is important to recognise that tail docking can still occur for medical reasons-where a dog's tail is injured in some way as a result of accident or where there is some other good medical reason, as certified by a vet, that it should be docked.

The bill deals with many other issues relating to animal welfare. Importantly, it provides for how we deal with barking dogs, how we deal with animal exercise and how we deal with a whole range of other matters. It is also important to note that the bill provides for new codes of practice of how people-I forget the exact terminology-should look after their dogs or cats. I think this is a welcome move.

The debate about cats, particularly in the territory, has an interesting history. I can recall a former Chief Minister of this place who was a very fond cat owner. During debates on this issue when the Labor Party was last in government, Ms Follett expressed her concern about any restrictions being placed on her domestic animals.

But that aside, it is important to make sure that we encourage domestic animal owners in the territory to adopt the very best practices in caring for their pet animals, and the measures that the government proposes as part of this package today are a welcome step in that direction. Perhaps they are the step that is needed, short of some sorts of mandatory measures outlined specifically in legislation. They are measures which we welcome.

Mr Speaker, the only other point I would like to make about this legislation is that we have seen over the past few years a continued increase in the incidence of concerns that people raise with members in this place about domestic animals being a nuisance in local communities. I would hope that the measures we are debating this morning will provide greater clarity to the officers of the territory who have to undertake the work of regulating issues such as nuisance animals in our community.

I hope that the minor disagreement that we have with some elements of these bills will not overshadow the fact that what we have before us is a very welcome piece of legislation that, on the whole, very effectively addresses a whole range of issues which have been greatly outdated for many years. The Labor Party supports in principle the bills that the Assembly is debating. We will be supporting some amendments which have been foreshadowed by Ms Tucker and some amendments that have been foreshadowed by the government. I will deal with those in the detail stage.

MS TUCKER (11.59): The strategic companion animal management package, of which the Domestic Animals Bill and the Animal Welfare Amendment Bill are a part, is a very significant initiative of the government. I would like to congratulate the government for pursuing this important reform of the ACT's domestic animal legislation and for introducing some significant animal welfare initiatives. The government developed this package with the release last year of an exposure draft of the proposed changes for public comment.

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