Page 4127 - Week 09 - Thursday, 26 August 2010
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
Importantly, given the board will have consumer representation, the opportunity is there for the board to balance the views of industry with those of the community generally and ensure that the interests of consumers are considered in all matters. Finally, an important role of the liquor advisory board will be to undertake the review of the operations of the legislation in two years time and to provide recommendations to the minister in accordance with any terms of reference the minister may give in relation to that review. This review will be a critical element of the success or otherwise of the government’s liquor law reforms. Given the breadth of the board’s membership, the minister will be well assured of balanced, reasoned and representative recommendations.
My amendment contemplates that the board will be chaired by the chief executive of the Department of Justice and Community Safety. Other members to be appointed by the minister would represent key stakeholders. These would include the police, liquor consumers, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, small businesses, ClubsACT and the Australian Hotels Association. The Canberra Liberals believe this is an important element of the ACT’s liquor law reform. It is the thread that would draw much of this somewhat tattered fabric together. 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) (6.57), by leave: I move amendments Nos 1 and 2 circulated in my name together to Mrs Dunne’s amendment No 28 [see schedule 4 at page 4144].
The government has been supportive of the establishment of a forum that will provide for industry consultation and feedback on the implementation and operation of the new liquor legislation. It was the government’s intention that this would be a non-statutory forum convened by me and my department with representatives from industry. That was certainly the intention and the approach that I adopted in relation to industry’s request for this type of forum. The government has no objection to the establishment of this forum under the legislation itself. The government is pleased to support that intention because it is consistent with our view about the need for a consultative mechanism.
However, the government does have a number of concerns with the proposal that Mrs Dunne has put forward, and I would just like to speak briefly to my amendments. My amendment No 1 deals with the chair of the board. The government proposes that the chair of the board be the Commissioner for Fair Trading instead of the chief executive of the Department of Justice and Community Safety.
The reason for that is that under this act it is the commissioner who has the legislative responsibility for regulation of the industry and it is the commissioner who is best placed to engage in these discussions with industry stakeholders. The chief executive of my department, whilst obviously accountable for the overall operations of the department, and to me as the minister, will not have the same level of operational knowledge as the commissioner. We believe that, given many of the elements of the consultative board’s functions will be to deal with operational issues, it is appropriate that the commissioner be the person who chairs the board.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video