Page 1096 - Week 03 - Thursday, 18 March 2010
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
amendments to the Wills Act 1968 to provide statutory wills and provisions in the ACT consistent with succession laws in other Australian jurisdictions. The amendments allow applications to be made to the Supreme Court for an order authorising a will to be made, altered or revoked for a person without testamentary capacity. The Supreme Court is required to take a variety of matters into account when considering applications, including the appropriateness of making an order and the likelihood that the person for whom the will is being made would have made the proposed will if they had testamentary capacity. Provisions of this kind are designed to protect the interests of those who lack the capacity.
The bill contains a minor amendment to the Prohibited Weapons Act 1996. By way of background, last year the attorney introduced an amendment to the act in the Justice and Community Safety Legislation Amendment Bill (No 2). The purpose of that amendment was to allow foreign police officers to possess prohibited weapons for training purposes only. The amendment included in this bill extends that exemption for practical purposes to also include prohibited articles. Prohibited articles include items such as a modified article of clothing, accessory or adornment, a purpose of which is to disguise or conceal a weapon. It is necessary and convenient to extend the exemption to items of this kind to ensure the effective and efficient execution of training activities carried out by the Australian Federal Police.
The bill amends the Emergencies Act 2004 to give the Emergency Services Commissioner the power to appoint emergency services support volunteers. The amendments allow the commissioner to appoint these volunteers to assist the commissioner to perform his or her functions under the act or to assist an emergency service to perform its functions. The power to appoint a person as an emergency services support volunteer does not apply if it would be more appropriate for the chief officer of the service to appoint the person as a volunteer member of the service. Emergency services support volunteers will include those who provide interactive mapping services which assist in tracking disasters and which are invaluable to the ESA in carrying out its functions.
The bill also amends the Supreme Court Act 1993 to introduce a modern Lord Cairns Act provision following common law developments. The amendment clarifies and confirms the Supreme Court’s ability to award equitable damages, removing any doubt as to its jurisdiction in this regard.
Finally, the bill amends the Fair Trading (Consumer Affairs) Act 1973 to provide the Commissioner for Fair Trading with inspectorate powers to prosecute or investigate offences under the Eggs (Labelling and Sales) Act 2001. The amendment will enable the commissioner to delegate inspectorate powers to investigators in the Office of Regulatory Services who will investigate possible breaches of the act.
I thank members that participated in the debate for their contributions. I acknowledge the points that have been made by both Mrs Dunne and Mr Rattenbury. I thank them for their support in principle of the legislation and look forward to concluding consideration of the bill during the detail stage.
Question resolved in the affirmative.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video