Page 3483 - Week 08 - Thursday, 23 August 2012
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problems, this government wants to impose a needle and syringe program on the staff. This issue has been well litigated both in this place and in the community, but let me say quite categorically in this place, in case there is any question or any doubt, that the Canberra Liberal will not introduce a needle and syringe program. If the government introduces a needle and syringe program before the election, we will repeal it. Be of no doubt.
The community and the staff at our jail should be in no doubt as they go to the polls that if they vote for the Labor Party or the Greens then there will be needles and syringes and a quasi-legalisation of drugs—the Hamburger report found that to do this need a quasi-legalisation of drugs—but if you vote Liberal, then you will get a government committed to stopping the drugs getting into the jail, getting rid of the needles and rehabilitating the prisoners. That is what the staff expect and that is what the community expect. That, Madam Assistant Speaker, is what the prisoners deserve.
MR RATTENBURY (Molonglo) (10.02): For the justice portfolio, delays in our courts are one of the most systemic and important issues that must be addressed over both the short and medium term. Members will be well aware that delays in our courts are a problem. Mrs Dunne has spoken about this tonight already. Some people are waiting for up to two years for their day in court, and sometimes they spend that time behind bars. Members will also be aware that there has been significant legislative action taken here in the Assembly over recent years to address the problem. In more recent times there has also been funding for the Supreme Court blitz, which did achieve its objectives. The blitz has helped reduce the backlog, and that in itself is a good thing.
However, the next phase of eliminating the backlog must be to put in place the necessary steps to ensure we do not slide back to a backlog over the next couple of years. I have already had this conversation with a range of people in the legal community around town; we cannot rest on our laurels on this one.
Importantly, the key to this next phase is just as much about facilitating a cultural change in the courts and law firms of the ACT as it is about funding. So often, problems governments face are a matter of finding the money to fund the solution. And this is part of the solution. But the Greens’ view is that the funding will not deliver the desired long-term benefit to the people of the ACT unless it is coupled with a change in culture. Put simply, the ACT courts and the lawyers that work in them too readily accept delay as part and parcel of justice in the ACT.
The Greens are a party interested in solutions, however, and we will not dwell on the negatives. The solution must be for the attorney to engage with the legal community and have an honest discussion about the long-term changes that need to be made in order to create a cultural change.
Far too often over the past 3½ years I have observed announcements being made that impact solely on the legal profession and the people they represent, without people actually taking the time to consult with the profession. There are many examples of this. There was the District Court, then the massive expansion of the Magistrates Court jurisdiction, then the proposal to remove the right of self-defence for people accused of assaulting police and the more recent fee hikes for court appearances.
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