Page 1653 - Week 06 - Tuesday, 3 June 2014

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To succeed in a charge of an aggravated offence for this aggravating factor, the court will need to be satisfied that the driving in question put at risk the safety of a vulnerable road user. Whether this can be established will depend on the particular facts. It would not be useful or appropriate for the bill to attempt to set out examples of all the situations in which this aggravating factor would be established. That will be a matter for the courts, noting that the concept of putting someone’s safety at risk is already established in ACT law. For example, under the existing road rules that apply in the territory there are requirements in certain situations for a driver to drive in a way and at a speed that does not put at risk the safety of pedestrians crossing a road. Similarly, work health and safety law includes provisions requiring the health and safety of people to not be put at risk.

So the concept is not unknown or untested. The formulation of this aggravating factor will allow for this concept to be used to address a potentially wide range of circumstances in which this aggravating factor may arise.

While Mr Hanson has expressed concern about the structure of this aggravating factor and his particular view that it is not sufficiently certain or clear, consultation with the police and the DPP has not indicated that this is an issue in discussions with those bodies. I am also aware that the Law Society and the Bar Association have considered the bill; and while they have made a number of observations, none of the comments appears to raise the concern that the framing of the aggravating factor relating to putting at risk the safety of a vulnerable road user is problematic. In particular, the Bar Association has welcomed this provision. For those reasons, the government cannot support these amendments.

MR RATTENBURY (Molonglo—Minister for Territory and Municipal Services, Minister for Corrections, Minister for Housing, Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs and Minister for Ageing) (11.09): As I outlined in my in-principle remarks, I will not be supporting the amendments either.

Question put:

That the amendments be agreed to.

The Assembly voted—

Question so resolved in the negative.

Bill, as a whole, agreed to.

Bill agreed to.

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