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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2003 Week 7 Hansard (24 June) . . Page.. 2309 ..
MR PRATT
(continuing):The logistics and security required to continually run fireworks back and forth from wherever they are now to a disposal site is going to cost a lot more money because it will take a lot more time. The more time fireworks are lying around-we do not need that-the more likely they are to be knocked off or to become unsafe. Therefore, the quicker we can dispose of them, the better.
I make a suggestion to the government. You will save some of that $465,000 if you examine a way to dispose of these fireworks in a shorter timeframe. If you talk to the defence force, the AFP or somebody, you will find there are better ways of disposing of this stuff safely. May I have access to my second 10 minutes, please, Mr Speaker?
MR SPEAKER
: You may.MR PRATT
: I go on-with fireworks.Ms MacDonald
: Stop the fireworks!MR PRATT
: My mother used to say that! Mr Speaker, it would seem that, if we can find a way to quickly dispose of unrequired fireworks, then we will be doing the ACT a better service. It will be efficient, time saving and secure-and something we can put behind us.I go to fireworks in the context of current policies. I would like to see the government move as quickly as possible. It will be a money-saving initiative to ban the retail sale of fireworks and focus more closely on the demonstrations throughout the calendar year, when the department can harness its resources, focus its energies and put in place a stringent policy which allows the community to enjoy fireworks in a safe way, with far less disruption than we are currently seeing.
The problem we have now is one we wrestled with in government-to be fair, Ms Gallagher-before you guys landed on the scene to start marching this great capital of ours forward. There is a major safety aspect. There are clearly hundreds of examples of unsafe practices which have been occurring for many weeks. All members in this place have had constituents call us, email us, write to us and knock us down in shopping centres saying, "For God's sake, do something about this!"
The day-in and day-out banging away of what are clearly illegal bangers, as well as legal fireworks, is particularly disruptive to young children and the elderly. The problem I have with the retail industry is that, while I believe a number of those outlets are competent, responsible outlets and they do the best they possibly can, there are practices we question. It would seem to me, from the feedback I am receiving, that the trafficking of illegal fireworks is being allowed to occur under cover of the existing retail network, or because of the behaviour of some retail outlets, although not all of them.
This is a problem we have wrestled with for a long time. None of us seems to have the answer whereby we can allow retail sales to continue, so that people can use these things safely, without disrupting the community. The community is running out of patience, and I am sure the government is too.
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