Page 3193 - Week 09 - Tuesday, 18 August 2009
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Some may remark on why the ACT Assembly should pass a resolution of this nature. It is for two reasons. The first is that the Assembly and the government were approached by the Australian Red Cross to promote the issue in this parliament, as in every state and territory parliament and the commonwealth parliament. But perhaps more important than that, as I mentioned earlier in my speech, is the fact that there are many Canberrans who have devoted themselves to the causes and the principles that are enshrined in the Geneva conventions. They have done so through the support they provide to the Red Cross—here in Australia, here in Canberra—in its very many charitable and volunteer activities. But there are also many Canberrans who, in a city as cosmopolitan and as international as our own, have served overseas either in the service of the Australian government, through the Australian defence force, as Mr Hanson mentioned, or in entirely voluntary and personal capacities, to promote the cause of peace and to promote the cause of providing succour and aid to those displaced by war.
It is fitting that the government and the Assembly recognise the efforts and the important principles of the International Committee of the Red Cross, its organisation here in Australia and the Geneva conventions that underpin its work. I thank members for joining in support of the motion today and commend it to the Assembly.
Question resolved in the affirmative.
Road Transport (Mass, Dimensions and Loading) Bill 2009
Debate resumed from 7 May 2009, on motion by Mr Stanhope:
That this bill be agreed to in principle.
Debate (on motion by Mr Corbell) adjourned to a later hour.
Justice and Community Safety Legislation Amendment Bill 2009 (No 2)
Debate resumed from 18 June 2009, on motion by Mr Corbell:
That this bill be agreed to in principle.
MRS DUNNE (Ginninderra) (11.43): The opposition will be supporting this bill. In large part, the bill makes relatively minor amendments, usually of a technical nature or to clarify intent or to create efficiencies. A good example of this last quality is the Machinery Act, in which the chief executive is not restricted to appointing public servants as machine inspectors under the act. Some machines are highly specialised in nature, and public servants may not always have the particular expertise required to inspect specialised machinery. To allow the chief executive the flexibility to focus more on the expertise in a particular field creates not only efficiencies but also safer working conditions, and it is a sensible amendment.
There are three elements of this bill that go to more substantive amendments. These include the Door-to-Door Trading Act 1991, which will be amended to treat
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