Page 3424 - Week 09 - Thursday, 20 August 2009

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New South Wales and Western Australia are also working towards creating correspondence with other jurisdictions.

I commend the bill to the Assembly.

Debate (on motion by Mrs Dunne) adjourned to the next sitting.

Legislation (Penalty Units) Amendment Bill 2009

Mr Corbell, pursuant to notice, presented the bill, its explanatory statement and a Human Rights Act compatibility statement.

Title read by Clerk.

MR CORBELL (Molonglo—Attorney-General, Minister for the Environment, Climate Change and Water, Minister for Energy and Minister for Police and Emergency Services) (10.10): I move:

That this bill be agreed to in principle.

The Legislation (Penalty Units) Amendment Bill 2009 amends the provisions of the Legislation Act 2001 that define the values attached to penalty units. The statute book for the ACT uses the concept of “penalty units” when an offence sets a maximum fine as a penalty. Section 133 of the Legislation Act 2001 defines the actual amount of what a penalty unit is worth. At present, one unit for an individual is worth $100, and one unit for a corporation is worth $500. These penalty units were last reviewed eight years ago.

The bill sets out the amendment that the 2009-10 budget process approved, to increase the penalty unit rate for an individual by $10 to $110, and for a corporation by $50 to $550. In addition to aligning the territory with the commonwealth and New South Wales which value a penalty unit for an individual at $110, the increase in penalty unit values will increase the revenue collected by the territory by an estimated $3,136,000 per year.

This amendment of the penalty unit values reflects inflation and the general increase in the cost of government administration of penalties since 2001, when the value was last reviewed by the Assembly. I commend the bill to the Assembly.

Debate (on motion by Mrs Dunne) adjourned to the next sitting.

Estimates 2009-2010—Select Committee

Report—government response

Debate resumed from 23 June 2009, on motion by Ms Gallagher:

That the Assembly takes note of the paper.

Question resolved in the affirmative.


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