Page 4121 - Week 09 - Thursday, 26 August 2010
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the police, if and when they are required to attend a venue. The venue will be required to record all relevant information up until the police attend, and we believe that that is a practical and an appropriate way to deal with the matter.
Amendment agreed to.
Clause 130, as amended, agreed to.
Proposed new clause 130A.
MRS DUNNE (Ginninderra) (6.31): I move amendment No 14 circulated in my name [see schedule 1 at page 4140].
This amendment inserts a new clause 130A. Like the amendment giving licence and permit holders the option of applying to the commissioner for a RAMP exemption, this amendment allows them to apply for an exemption from maintaining an incident register.
Again, like the RAMP exemption provisions, the commissioner in granting an exemption must be satisfied that the exemption is not inconsistent with the harm minimisation and public safety principles of the legislation. Once again the commissioner can call for additional information and documents to assist in making decisions and must be allowed to inspect the premises for that purpose. The commissioner can refuse to consider an application if these requirements are not met.
Once again it is targeted at small suburban restaurants and the like that do little more than provide a local service to residents who just want a quiet evening out and that pose little or no risk to public safety. It is not intended for taverns and bars or major entertainment centres like Civic, Manuka and Kingston, where incidents would be more frequent. Whilst it may not be particularly onerous for a venue to keep a register for the purposes of recording any incident that might arise and that register might never be opened, it nonetheless creates another element of red tape that we in this place should be trying our hardest to minimise. This is an unnecessary piece of red tape for those tiny local businesses. It should not be lumbered upon them, and I commend the amendment to the Assembly.
MR CORBELL (Molonglo—Attorney-General, Minister for the Environment, Climate Change and Water, Minister for Energy and Minister for Police and Emergency Services) (6.32): The government will not be supporting this amendment. Requiring a licensee to keep a record of serious incidents at licensed premises is consistent with the objects of the bill and harm minimisation and community safety principles. In order to facilitate the responsible development of the liquor industry in a way that takes into account community safety, incident registers enable the commissioner to better target regulatory action. They also assist licensees to take stock of what is happening at their premises and improve their management practices.
MR RATTENBURY (Molonglo) (6.33): The Greens will not be supporting these amendments either. I believe there is a series of them relating to this matter. We believe the incident registers are appropriate for venues to keep, large or small. It may turn out that it is a very short list for some venues but, similar to the discussion we
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