Northern Territory Second Reading Speeches Northern Territory Second Reading Speeches[Index] [Search] [Bill] [Help]
| Dr TOYNE (Justice and Attorney-General): Mr Acting Speaker, I move that the bill be now read a second time. The purpose of this bill is to amend the Consumer Affairs and Fair Trading Act so as to: clarify that the minister and the Commissioner of Consumer Affairs may make in good faith and in the public interest, public warning statements about goods, services, businesses, or individuals; amend Part 7 so that the consumer protection provisions dealing with door to door selling also apply to contracts formed as a result of unsolicited telephone calls; amend the definition of motor vehicle in section 125 to provide that a vehicle propelled by any hydrocarbon is a motor vehicle for the purposes of the act; amend provisions currently allowing for the minister to make declarations effectively excluding certain motor vehicles from the application of the act, so that such exemptions are made by regulation; and make various statute law revision amendments identified by Parliamentary Counsel. The current provisions of the act, and I mention in particular sections 7(1)(a) and (d) and section 336 leave ambiguous the extent of the protection for the Commissioner of Consumer Affairs from legal action in the event that goods, services, businesses or individuals are named in a public warning statement. While such protection would appear to be the intent of these provisions, legal advice obtained in a recent matter is that it is not without doubt. It is the view of the government that the issue should be made clear. Legislation in other jurisdictions leaves the matter in no doubt. The proposed amendments set out in clause 4 of the bill are based on section 41A of the Australian Capital Territory Fair Trading (Consumer Affairs) Act 1973. The bill also amends Part 7 of the act so that the consumer protection provisions dealing with door-to-door selling applies to contracts formed as a result of unsolicited telephone calls, a practice commonly known as telemarketing. The door-to-door selling provisions of the act are designed to protect consumers from high pressure selling tactics, particularly arising from unsolicited approaches by sellers. In general terms, the provisions: prohibit certain unfair terms in contracts; provide for cooling off and rights of recision of contracts; prohibit calls on Sundays and at certain other times - for example, after 8 pm weekdays; prohibit harassment; and provide for restitution in certain circumstances. However, currently, the key section, section 98, is written on the assumption that the selling or some aspect of it will occur at a place at which both the consumer and the person selling are physically present. This means that contracts formed as a result of telemarketing are not covered. Telemarketing is now prolific, and the Commissioner of Consumer Affairs advised me that this type of trading can cause similar problems for consumers, as do traditional door-to-door trading when this section was drafted. The commissioner is of the view that consumers should have the same protections whether or not the trader approaches the consumer in their home, in person, or by telephone. I share this view. This matter has recently been discussed by the Standing Committee of Officials of Consumer Affairs. Victoria and New South Wales have already amended their fair trading acts to apply similar provisions to both traditional door-to-door trading and telemarketing. I understand South Australia has indicated they may follow in the near future. I now move to sections of the bill that deal with motor vehicles. Section 125 of the act defines motor vehicle for the purposes of the licensing and warranty provisions of the act. The definition includes a vehicle propelled by volatile spirit, steam, gas, oil, or electricity. However, hydrocarbon produced other than from petroleum is a possible a fuel of the near future and may not be covered by the definition of volatile spirit. This means that a motor vehicle, and otherwise ordinary car, propelled by such a hydrocarbon would potentially not be a motor vehicle for the purposes of the act. The bill amends the definition of motor vehicle in section 125 in anticipation of such motor vehicles appearing on the market. The act also currently allows for the minister responsible for the act to make declarations effectively excluding application of the act to certain motor vehicles. This includes section 125 which provides for the declaration of a vehicle that is not being a motor vehicle for the purposes of the act, and section 169 which provides for the declaration of the type of commercial vehicles to which the obligation to repair under warranty does not apply. The current process to exclude vehicles from the application of the act, under sections 125 and 169, requires that the minister place a notice in the Gazette. It can be difficult both for the consumers and traders alike to keep a track of these exemptions or to locate this information. The bill amends the act to change the process of giving these exemptions under the act from one where the minister makes a declaration to one where regulations are made. Changing the process to replace the exemptions in the regulations will make this information more accessible. In order to clarify current exemptions and make them transparent, they will be remade by new regulations. A number of statute law revision-type amendments are also made. In particular, the Schedule amends the penalty provisions throughout the act to omit the specific provisions providing that the penalty for a breach of the act by a body corporate is five times that of the penalty for an individual. The reason is that the Justice Legislation Amendment Act 2006, passed in April 2006 sittings, amended the Interpretation Act so that the penalty for a body corporate is automatically five times that for an individual. Parliamentary Counsel will, in future, automatically make such statue law revision changes to legislation whenever an act is to be amended. The amendments to the penalty provisions have no effect on the actual penalties that can be applied, either to an individual or corporate bodies. Mr Acting Speaker, I commend the bill to honourable members and table a copy of the explanatory statement. Debate adjourned. |