Page 28 - Week 01 - Tuesday, 15 February 2011

Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video


But we accept that it is the view of a majority of members in this place that other reform should be pursued first. The bail reform is one of those, but it does not do all of the heavy lifting. In fact, the more substantive reform is in many respects the reform to the jurisdiction of the Magistrates Court, which is before this place at this current time. I will not pre-empt debate on that bill except to observe that if we are serious about tackling delay in the Supreme Court we must reform the jurisdiction of the Magistrates Court and we must reform it in the manner proposed in the government bill. That is the challenge for members in this place.

I commend the bill to the Assembly.

Question resolved in the affirmative.

Bill agreed to in principle.

Leave granted to dispense with the detail stage.

Bill agreed to.

Statute Law Amendment Bill 2010 (No 2)

Debate resumed from 21 October 2010, on motion by Mr Corbell:

That this bill be agreed to in principle.

MRS DUNNE (Ginninderra) (11.21): The Liberal opposition will be supporting this bill, which amends a range of acts and regulations for statute law revision purposes. Statute law amendment bills—or SLAB bills, as they are known colloquially—usually carry amendments contained within four schedules. Schedule 1 provides for minor, non-controversial amendments initiated by government agencies. In this bill, six acts are amended.

Schedule 2 provides for minor, non-controversial amendments to the Legislation Act, initiated by the parliamentary counsel’s office. There are no such amendments in this bill. Schedule 3 provides for minor or technical amendments initiated by the parliamentary counsel’s office. In this bill, 31 acts and regulations are amended. Schedule 4 provides for routine repeals. No legislation is repealed in this bill.

Schedule 1 continues the process established in the second SLAB bill passed in 2009 to centralise the definition of the term “bankrupt or personally insolvent”. There are two amendments to the Mental Health (Treatment and Care) Act 1994. The first is to establish consistency of practice that does not require ministerial approval for the delegation of functions—in this case, those of the chief psychiatrist. The second is similar, removing the need to publish the delegations of the care coordinator’s functions as a notifiable instrument.

The Work Safety Act 2008 is amended, as the minister’s presentation speech puts it—and I quote—“to make it clear that a serious event includes a serious injury to a worker as well as to any other person”. In fact, this amendment fixes an error, because


Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video