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Minutes of Proceedings - 1997-04-29

Seventh Assembly First Session 29/04/1997 Parliamentary Record No. 33
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Date : 29/04/1997

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1. MEETING:

The Assembly met at 10:00h, pursuant to adjournment. The Speaker, the Honourable T.R. McCarthy, took the Chair.

2. PRAYERS.

3. NOTICES:

The following notices were given:

Mr Hatton: To present the Juvenile Justice Amendment Bill 1997 (Serial 235).

Mr Coulter: To present the AustralAsia Railway Corporation Amendment Bill 1997 (Serial 234).

Mr Burke: To present the Instruments Amendment Bill 1997 (Serial 233).

Mr Burke: To present the Unit Titles Amendment Bill 1997 (Serial 236).

Mrs Hickey: To present the Protection of Confidential Information Bill 1997 (Serial 231).

4. QUESTIONS:

10:01 Mr Adamson to Mr Reed.

10:09 Mrs Hickey to Mr Reed.

10:13 Mr Setter to Mr Manzie.

10:21 Mr Stirling to Mr Finch.

10:25 Mr Baldwin to Mr Finch.

10:33 Mr Bailey to Mr Poole.

10:39 Dr Lim to Mr Coulter.

10:45 Mr Bell to Mrs Hickey.

10:50 Mr Mitchell to Mr Burke.

10:53 Mr Rioli to Mr Manzie.

Paper tabled:

The Member for Arafura (Mr Rioli), by leave, laid on the Table the following Paper -

Newsletter, Friday Feedback, Power and Water Authority, dated 21 March 1997 (Paper 3203).

10:57 Mr Adamson to Mr Hatton.

The Leader of Government Business (Mr Coulter) asked that further questions be placed on the Question Paper.

5. SESSIONAL COMMITTEE ON THE USE AND ABUSE OF ALCOHOL BY THE COMMUNITY - EXTENSION OF TIME FOR REPORTING ON REFERENCE INTO KAVA - MOTION AGREED TO:

The Chairman of the Sessional Committee on the Use and Abuse of Alcohol by the Community (Mr Burke), by leave, moved - That the Sessional Committee on the Use and Abuse of Alcohol by the Community be granted an extension of time to allow it to table a Report into the issue of Kava Regulation in the Northern Territory in the August 1997 sittings of the Legislative Assembly (Paper 3204).

Debate ensued.

Question - put and passed.

6. SESSIONAL COMMITTEE ON THE ENVIRONMENT - REPORT INTO THE OCCURRENCE, SPREAD, FUTURE MANAGEMENT AND IMPACT OF MIMOSA PIGRA IN THE NORTHERN TERRITORY - PAPERS TABLED - REPORT PRINTED - MOTION TO NOTE REPORT:

The Chairman of the Sessional Committee on the Environment (Dr Lim) laid on the Table the Report of the Sessional Committee on the Environment into Matters relating to the Occurrence, Spread, Future Management and Impact of

Mimosa pigra

in the Northern Territory, April 1997 (Paper 3202) and the Written Submissions received and Transcripts of Proceedings of Public Hearings held on 4 and 5 February 1997 (Papers 3205 and 3206).

Dr Lim moved - That the Report be printed.

Question - put and passed.

Dr Lim moved - That the Assembly take note of the Report.

Debate ensued.

____________________

Suspension of sitting:

The sitting was suspended between 11:55h and 14:00h.

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Debate resumed.

Ordered that the Minister for Primary Industry and Fisheries (Mr Palmer) have leave to continue his remarks at a later hour.

Debate adjourned.

7.VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING IN THE NORTHERN TERRITORY - MINISTERIAL STATEMENT - STATEMENT NOTED:

The Minister for Education and Training (Mr Finch) made a statement regarding vocational education and training in the Northern Territory (Paper 3207).

Papers tabled:

Mr Finch laid on the Table the following Papers -

Northern Territory Training Profile 1997 - NTETA, October 1996 (Paper 3208); and
Northern Territory Employment and Training Authority, Annual Report 1996 (Paper 3200).

Mr Finch moved - That the Assembly take note of the Statement.

Debate ensued.

Question - put and passed.

8. ANNUAL REPORT OF THE OMBUDSMAN FOR THE YEAR, 1995-96 - PAPER TABLED - REPORT PRINTED - MOTION TO NOTE REPORT:

The Chief Minister (Mr Stone) laid on the Table the Annual Report of the Ombudsman of the Northern Territory for 1995-96 (Paper 3201).

Mr Stone moved - That the Report be printed.

Question - put and passed.

Mr Stone moved - That the Assembly take note of the Report.

Ordered - That Mr Stone have leave to continue his remarks at a later hour.

Debate adjourned.

9. THE WIK SUMMIT - MINISTERIAL STATEMENT - STATEMENT NOTED:

The Chief Minister (Mr Stone) made a statement on the second Wik Premiers’ Conference held on 28 April 1997 (Paper 3209).

Paper Tabled:

Mr Stone laid on the Table the following Paper -

Letter, Hon Shane L Stone, Chief Minister, to Hon John Howard, MP, Prime Minister, dated 3 April 1997 (Paper 3210).

Mr Stone moved - That the Assembly take note of the Statement.

Debate ensued.

Question - put and passed.

10. FISHERIES AMENDMENT BILL 1997 (Serial 224):

The order of the day having been read for the resumption of debate on the motion that the Bill be now read a second time -

Debate ensued.

Question put and passed.

Bill read a second time.

The Assembly accordingly resolved itself into Committee of the Whole for consideration of the Bill.

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In Committee
(Mr Adamson in the Chair)

Clauses 1 and 2 taken together, by leave, and agreed to.

Clause 3 read.

On the motion of the Minister for Primary Industry and Fisheries (Mr Palmer) the following

amendment was agreed to:

Omit from paragraph (a) the definition of 'assistant' and insert in its stead the following:

" 'assistant', in relation to a licence or permit, means a person notified by the licensee or permit holder in writing to the Director as an assistant in relation to the licence or permit, other than a person whom the Director has been notified by the licensee or permit holder is no longer an assistant;".

Clause, as amended, agreed to.

Clauses 4 and 5 taken together, by leave, and agreed to.

Remainder of the Bill, by leave, taken as a whole.

On the motion of the Minister for Primary Industry and Fisheries (Mr Palmer) the following amendments were taken together, by leave, and agreed to -

In clause 6, omit from proposed section 11A(3) "his or her delegate" and insert in its stead "the Director's delegate".

Omit clause 7.

Insert after clause 6 the following:

"7. EXPIRY AND RENEWALS

"Section 12 of the

Fisheries Act

is amended -

(a) by omitting from subsection (4)(b) all words after 'structure of the corporation is' and substituting 'that described under section 12C(1)(b)(iii)'; and

(b) by omitting subsection (4)(c) and substituting the following:

'(c) the conditions of the licence have been complied with; and'.".

In clause 8, omit from proposed subsection 12A(9) "(other than section 45A)".

In clause 11 -

Omit from proposed section 13(2) "The Minister may" and insert in its stead "The Minister, as soon as practicable after the commencement of section 11 of the

Fisheries Amendment Act 1997

, must".

Omit proposed section 13(3) and insert in its stead the following:

"13A. LICENSEE TO EXERCISE DIRECT CONTROL

"(1) A licensee or permit holder must not fail to exercise direct control over operations in respect of the licence or permit.

Penalty:

(a) in a case to which subsection (2)(a) or (b) applies - $20,000;

(b) in a case to which subsection (2)(c) applies - $5,000.

"(2) A licensee or permit holder only contravenes subsection (1) -

(a) where there is in force a notice under section 13 that relates to the licence or permit, if he or she contravenes or fails to comply with the notice;

(b) where no notice under section 13 relating to the licence or permit is in force, if he or she is not in the vicinity of operations in respect of the licence or permit; or

(c) if an assistant, short term operator, nominated person or temporary transferee commits an offence against this Act during the conduct of operations in respect of the licence or permit.

"(3) In this section, a reference to a licensee or permit holder does not include a person deemed under sections 12A, 14 or 14A to be a licensee or permit holder.

"(4) Subsection (2)(b) does not apply in relation to a licensee or permit holder if, at the time he or she was not in the vicinity of the operations, a short term operator, nominated person or temporary transferee in relation to the licence or permit was in the vicinity of the operations.

"(5) Where an assistant, short term operator, nominated person or temporary transferee commits a primary offence, the licensee or permit holder may be found guilty of an offence against subsection (1) on the ground that -

(a) the act alleged to constitute an element of the offence is the committal of the primary offence by the assistant, short term operator, nominated person or temporary transferee; or

(b) the act alleged to constitute an element of the offence is the committal of an offence by another person an element of which is the committal of the primary offence by the assistant, short term operator, nominated person or temporary transferee,

but may not be found guilty of more than one offence against subsection (1) in respect of the same primary offence.

"(6) In this section, 'primary offence' means an offence against this Act committed during the conduct of operations in respect of a licence or permit, other than an offence an element of which is the committal of an offence against this Act by another person.

"13B. TEMPORARY TRANSFEREE TO EXERCISE DIRECT CONTROL

"(1) A temporary transferee must not fail to exercise direct control over operations in respect of the licence.

Penalty:

(a) in a case to which subsection (2)(a) or (b) applies - $20,000;

(b) in a case to which subsection (2)(c) applies - $5,000.

"(2) A temporary transferee only contravenes subsection (1) -

(a) where there is in force a notice under section 13 that relates to the licence, if he or she contravenes or fails to comply with the notice;

(b) where no notice under section 13 relating to the licence is in force, if he or she is not in the vicinity of operations in respect of the licence; or

(c) if an assistant, short term operator or nominated person commits an offence against this Act during the conduct of operations in respect of the licence.

"(3) Subsection (2)(b) does not apply in relation to a temporary transferee if, at the time he or she was not in the vicinity of the operations, a short term operator or nominated person in relation to the licence was in the vicinity of the operations.

"(4) Where an assistant, short term operator or nominated person commits a primary offence, the temporary transferee may be found guilty of an offence against subsection (1) on the ground that -

(a) the act alleged to constitute an element of the offence is the committal of the primary offence by the assistant, short term operator or nominated person; or

but may not be found guilty of more than one offence against subsection (1) in respect of the same primary offence.

"(5) In this section, 'primary offence' means an offence against this Act committed during the conduct of operations in respect of a licence, other than an offence an element of which is the committal of an offence against this Act by another person.

"13C. NOMINATED PERSON TO EXERCISE DIRECT CONTROL

"(1) A nominated person must not fail to exercise direct control over operations in respect of the licence or permit.

Penalty:

(a) in a case to which subsection (2)(a) or (b) applies - $20,000;

(b) in a case to which subsection (2)(c) applies - $5,000.

"(2) A person only contravenes subsection (1) -

(a) where there is in force a notice under section 13 that relates to the licence or permit, if -

(i) he or she contravenes or fails to comply with the notice; and

(ii) the contravention or failure occurs in relation to a place, area or operations in relation to which he or she is the nominated person;

(b) where no notice under section 13 relating to the licence or permit is in force, if he or she is not in the vicinity of operations -

(i) in the place or area; or

(ii) that are the type of operations,

in relation to which he or she is the nominated person;

(c) if an assistant commits an offence against this Act in a place or area, or during the conduct of operations, in relation to which the person is the nominated person; or

(d) if the short term operator commits an offence against this Act in a place or area, or during the conduct of operations, in relation to which the person is the nominated person.

"(3) Subsection (2)(a), (b) and (c) do not apply in relation to a nominated person if, at the time the offence is alleged to have been committed, there is a short term operator in relation to -

(a) the licence; and

(b) the place, area or operations, as the case may be.

"13D. SHORT TERM OPERATOR TO EXERCISE DIRECT CONTROL

"(1) A short term operator must not fail to exercise direct control over operations in respect of the licence.

Penalty:

(a) in a case to which subsection (2)(a) or (b) applies - $20,000;

(b) in a case to which subsection (2)(c) applies - $5,000.

"(2) A person only contravenes subsection (1) -

(a) where there is in force a notice under section 13 that relates to the licence, if -

(i) he or she contravenes or fails to comply with the notice; and

(ii) the contravention or failure occurs in relation to a place, area or operations in relation to which he or she is the short term operator;

(b) where no notice under section 13 relating to the licence is in force, if he or she is not in the vicinity of operations -

(i) in the place or area; or

(ii) that are the type of operations,

in relation to which he or she is the short term operator; or

(c) if an assistant commits an offence against this Act in a place or area, or during the conduct of operations, in relation to which the person is the short term operator.

"13E. DEFENCE, &c., IN RELATION TO DIRECT CONTROL OFFENCES

"(1) It is a defence to a prosecution for an offence against sections 13A, 13B, 13C or 13D, where the act alleged to constitute an element of the offence is the commission of an offence by another person, if the defendant establishes that he or she took all reasonable precautions to prevent the other person from committing the offence.

"(2) For the purposes of sections 13A, 13B, 13C and 13D, evidence that an assistant, nominated person, short term operator, temporary transferee, licensee or permit holder -

(a) was on a vessel while operations relating to the taking of fish or aquatic life, or in respect of an action that may only be taken under a licence or permit, were being conducted in relation to the licence or permit; or

(b) was using, or was in possession of, at a place, gear or equipment that apparently could not conveniently have been transported to the place without the assistance of the licensee or permit holder or a person acting on behalf of the licensee or permit holder,

is evidence that the assistant, nominated person, short term operator, temporary transferee, licensee or permit holder was at that time conducting operations in relation to the licence or permit.".

Insert in proposed section 14(1) "natural" before "persons".

Omit proposed section 14(6) and insert in its stead the following:

"(6) A person ceases to be a nominated person in respect of a licence or permit -

(a) on the date specified by him or her in a notice under subsection (5)(b); or

(b) if another person is approved under subsection (3) to be the nominated person in his or her place, on the date the approval takes effect,

whichever occurs first.".

Omit proposed section 14(7) and insert in its stead the following:

"(7) Where a person is no longer acting as a nominated person (whether the person has ceased to be the nominated person under subsection (6)(a) or not), a person must not take or sell fish or aquatic life under the licence or permit -

(a) in the case of a licence or permit held by a corporation - until the date an approval under subsection (3) of another person to be the nominated person takes effect; or

(b) in the case of a licence or permit held by a natural person -

(i) until the date an approval under subsection (3) of another person to be the nominated person takes effect; or

(ii) unless the licensee or permit holder conducts the operations during which the fish or aquatic life are taken or sold for the purposes of the licence.

Penalty: $10,000.".

Omit from proposed subsection 14(8) "(other than section 45A)".

Omit proposed section 14A(2) and insert in its stead the following:

"(2) Where a licensee intends -

(a) to be absent from operations conducted under the licence for a period of not more than 14 days; and

(b) that operations are to be carried out under the licence during his or her absence,

before that absence he or she must appoint a person who has been approved under subsection (1) to be the short term operator in respect of the licence by -

(c) writing the person's name in legible English in a record book kept for the purposes of the licence opposite the dates of the beginning and end of the period (not exceeding 14 days) of the intended absence; and

(d) signing and dating the entry and ensuring the entry is signed and dated by the person whose name is specified in the entry.

Penalty: $2,000.".

Omit from proposed subsection 14A(5) "(except for the purposes of section 45A)".

In clause 16, omit all words after "repealed".

In clause 17, insert in proposed section 51(1) "in the Accountable Officer's Account," after "establish a fund,".

Bill as amended, agreed to.

Bill to be reported with amendments.

Report adopted.

On the motion of the Minister for Primary Industry and Fisheries (Mr Palmer) the Bill was read a third time and passed to be a proposed law.

11. LOCAL COURT AMENDMENT BILL 1997 (Serial 219); and SMALL CLAIMS AMENDMENT BILL 1997 (Serial 220):

The Order of the Day having been read for the resumption of debate on the motion - That the bills be read a second time -

Debate ensued.

Question put and passed.

Bill read a second time.

Leave granted for a motion for the third readings of the Bills to be moved forthwith.

On the motion of the Attorney-General (Mr Burke) the Bills were read a third time and passed to be proposed laws.

12. AUDITOR-GENERAL’S MID-YEAR REPORT, FEBRUARY 1997 -

REPORT NOTED:

The Order of the Day having been read for the resumption of debate on the motion - That the Assembly take note of the Report -

Question put and passed.

13. ADJOURNMENT:

The Attorney-General (Mr Burke) moved - That the Assembly do now adjourn.

Debate ensued.

Paper tabled:

The Member for Fannie Bay (Ms Martin), by leave, laid on the Table the following paper -

Letter, Hon Steve Hatton, Minister for Correctional Services, to Ms Clare Martin, MLA, dated 21 April 1997 (Paper 3211).
Debate continued.
And the Assembly adjourned at 21:33h until Wednesday 30 April 1997 at 10:00h.

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PAPERS:
The following papers were deemed to have been presented on Tuesday 29 April 1997:

Annual Report:
Batchelor College, 1995 (Paper 3199)

Community Government Scheme
Timber Creek Community Government Scheme (Paper 3198).

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ATTENDANCE

All members attended the sitting.

Last updated: 04 Aug 2016

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Minutes of Proceedings - 1997-04-29