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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2002 Week 1 Hansard (13 December) . . Page.. 219 ..
Motion, as amended, agreed to.
Community Services and Social Equity-Standing Committee
Reference
Debate resumed.
Amendment agreed to.
MR HARGREAVES (12.15): Mr Speaker, I seek leave to move the amendment circulated in my name and to speak to the amendment.
Leave granted.
MR HARGREAVES: I move:
Omit "Standing Committee on Community Services and Social Equity"
Substitute "Standing Committee on Legal Affairs"
Essentially this amendment seeks to refer the inquiry not to the Standing Committee on Community Services and Social Equity but to the Standing Committee on Legal Affairs. The reason for that, Mr Speaker, is that within the terms of reference of the Legal Affairs Standing Committee sit the responsibilities for examining community and individual rights, which this could easily come within; general community safety; industrial relations, which covers occupational health and safety; law and order, which is one of the big issues to do with fireworks in the ACT; consumer affairs, which is all about fairness in the marketplace for those people who are actually selling the items; and regulations and regulatory services, and, of course, that is where the power resides to continue or not to continue to allow the sale of fireworks.
However, the terms of reference of the Community Services and Social Equity Standing Committee relate to this matter only in general terms of municipal services. I take the point that within municipal services sits the WorkCover responsibilities. However, I think this is still a bit too general. The committee's responsibilities also cover youth services, but that could regarded as kids safety. But I think in totality there is more specific application in the terms of reference of the Legal Affairs Committee, with its scrutiny of bills and subordinate legislation function, than there is with that of the Community Services and Social Equity Committee.
I want to also say that I regret having to move this amendment because I would dearly love to have chaired the inquiry myself.
MR HUMPHRIES
(Leader of the Opposition) (12.18): Mr Speaker, the opposition will support the amendment. I do not think it a matter of great moment as to which committee conducts this inquiry. However, I do express some surprise at the view that the Community Services and Social Equity Committee does not have responsibility for the area of dangerous goods. The terms of reference of the committee include municipal services, which I assume is more or less a synonym for urban services in the ACT.
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