Page 1861 - Week 05 - Thursday, 6 May 2010
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during an emergency. Provisions exist within the act to ensure that the emergency plan includes the community and communication information plan for communicating information to the community during an emergency. This bill transfers responsibility for preparing, monitoring and recommending amendments through the ACT emergency plan from the EMC to the ESA commissioner.
I also note that Mr Smyth will propose an amendment to delete proposed subsection 150A(5), which outlines the circumstances or the criteria which the Chief Minister must use in being satisfied that an emergency is likely to happen. I appreciate that the language in this subsection is perhaps a little convoluted, but I also believe that it is there for a good reason in that it makes it clear that the Chief Minister has the broadest possible grounds upon which to determine whether or not he can be satisfied that an emergency is likely to happen and, therefore, exercise his powers under this act. I would characterise it as a belt-and-braces approach.
Although subsection 150A(1) allows the Chief Minister to appoint an emergency controller if he is satisfied that an emergency has happened, is happening or is likely to happen, subsection 150A(5) allows the Chief Minister to be satisfied that an emergency is likely to happen in the broadest possible circumstances, taking account of any factors or issues that he believes warrants them. I think this is necessary in emergency legislation of this type. It removes any potential for ambiguity and makes it clear that the broadest range of grounds are available to the Chief Minister to appoint an emergency controller in the circumstances outlined for that division. For those reasons, the government will not be supporting Mr Smyth’s amendment. Nevertheless, I thank members opposite and the Greens for their support of this legislation.
Question resolved in the affirmative.
Bill agreed to in principle.
Detail stage
Bill, by leave, taken as a whole.
MR SMYTH (Brindabella) (11.34): I move amendment No 1 circulated in my name [see schedule No 1 at page 1964].
I thank the minister for that attempted explanation. I think anybody that has actually read this section would agree with both me and the minister that it is convoluted. Just so that people know what we are talking about, the section reads:
The Chief Minister may be satisfied that an emergency is likely to happen if the Chief Minister is satisfied that an event that has happened or is happening, or a circumstance that exists, gives rise to the likelihood of an emergency.
If you wanted to interpret that in an emergency I think you would be in serious trouble. That is the point. What we should be doing is removing ambiguity to streamline the process to make sure that we do not have any indecisiveness in the case of an emergency. Hence, my move to delete section 150A(5).
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