Page 2294 - Week 08 - Wednesday, 29 August 2007
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Those are the fundamental changes to the existing sections. There is an enhanced offensive behaviour section, which will be called “disorderly and offensive behaviour”, covering those definitions which the police need and which have proved to be problematic by not being included in the section in the past. There is also the offensive language section, which will be an important tool to assist police.
The rest of the bill deals with what the prescribed offences are: defacing premises, additional offences on territory premises, misbehaviour at public meetings, fighting, disorderly or offensive behaviour, offensive language, indecent exposure, noise abatement directions—failure to abide by one of those—and three offences under the Liquor Act in relation to consumption of liquor in certain public places, sale or supply of liquor to under-age people, and buying, possession and consumption of liquor by under-age people.
The “prescribed penalty” means that if the penalty for the offence to which the prescribed penalty relates is more than two penalty units—that is, $200 or more—the infringement notice will be $200. If it is two penalty units or less, there will be an infringement notice of $100. This will be particularly useful with respect to anyone causing offensive behaviour, but especially younger people, be they 16, 17, 25 or whatever. It not only enables the problem to be nipped in the bud but also gives the ability to pay an infringement notice, just as you would pay a speeding fine, rather than go through the court process.
Let me now turn to the specific sections. Firstly, defacing premises, under the Crimes Act, relates to people who fix papers or placards or mark or paint any private premises without consent. In the first instance, under section 119 (1) the penalty would be an infringement notice of $200, because there is a maximum penalty of $1,000. Subsection (2) deals with marking public streets, roads, footpaths, et cetera.
Section 154 of the Crimes Act deals with additional offences on territory premises. A person who, without reasonable excuse, trespasses on government premises commits an offence. That attracts a fine of $100, imprisonment of one month or both. In that instance, it would attract an infringement notice of $100. Subsection (2) involves obstruction of people or vehicles in and out of government premises, behaving offensively or being disorderly on government premises, and refusing or neglecting to leave those premises upon being asked to. The fine is $250 or imprisonment for three months. That would attract an infringement notice of $200.
We then come to the other offences. The offence of misbehaving in public meetings currently attracts a $1,000 fine, imprisonment for six months or both. That would attract a $200 infringement notice. We then come to the offences which I have listed in my bill. Section 391, fighting in a public place, currently attracts a fine of $1,000. That would involve an infringement notice of $200. Offensive behaviour, as I said, would also involve an infringement notice of $200 because there is a maximum penalty of $1,000. The same penalty would apply to the offensive language section.
Indecent exposure attracts a penalty of up to 20 penalty units, which is $2,000. Again, because that is one of the classic street offences, there would be an infringement notice of $200. With respect to noise abatement notices, which is when people are
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