PENALTIES BILL 1998 Second Reading Speech

Northern Territory Second Reading Speeches

PENALTIES BILL 1998

(This an uncorrected proof of the daily report. It is made available under the condition that it is recognised as such.)

Bills presented and read a first time.

Mr STONE (Chief Minister): Madam Speaker, I move that the bills be now read a second time.

The purpose of the Penalties Bill is to facilitate the penalties for offences being described by reference to penalty units. This bill provides that, where a penalty is described in terms of penalty units, then the penalty will be $100 multiplied by the number of penalty units specified for the offence.

There are some 680 acts, regulations, by-laws, rules and schemes that have some currency as laws of the Northern Territory. A significant proportion of these laws contain offences for which monetary penalties are prescribed. The sheer number of the offences and diversity of laws in which the offences are contained makes it very difficult to ensure that there is consistency between penalties for similar kinds of offences in different acts. Additionally, it is difficult to ensure that there is a rational relationship between the penalties for differing kinds of offences. Finally, it is time-consuming to ensure that penalties remain current, having regard to the effects in past times of inflation.

The outcome of these difficulties is that some penalties are out of step with both one another and with what would be considered by the community to be the appropriate penalty. One prime example of such an inappropriate penalty is the penalty for breach of section 202 of the Justices Act. Section 202 makes it an offence for a Clerk of the Court to extort money from persons paying fines. The penalty is $50. The penalty was set at 25 pounds in 1928.

There should be consistency between penalties for various offences. Additionally, penalties should be regularly reviewed so that they remain up to date. For the purpose of achieving these objectives, I propose that a number of steps be taken.

The first is that I will, in my capacity as Attorney General, develop a penalty policy which will set out some basic relationships between the various types of offences. Effectively, there will be a grading of offences. I would then expect that this penalty policy would be taken into account across government in the development of legislation for consideration by the Legislative Assembly.

The second step is that current Legislation will, over time, be reviewed, having regard to the penalty policy. The third step is that new and reviewed penalties will be specified in terms of penalty units. The fourth step is that there will be regular reviews of the monetary value of the basic penalty unit.

The outcome of these steps should be that there will be review and updating of all penalties contained in acts, regulations and other legislative instruments under the control of the Territory government. The monthly penalties, when reviewed, will be converted into penalty units, with the consequence that future reviews will be able to be conducted in a relatively simple way.

The Penalties Bill provides the structure that will facilitate the enactment of offences that prescribe penalties in terms of penalty units. The Sentencing Amendment Bill No. 2 and the Interpretation Amendment Bill make amendments that are consequential to the creation of penalty units.

Members would be aware that in most other jurisdictions penalties can be described in terms of penalty units. The government has been reluctant to make this move in the Northern Territory because it represents a further abstraction of legislation. However I am now persuaded that there are administrative mechanisms that will ensure that legislation, when printed, will have adequate notes and explanations as to the concept of penalty units and how to define the current value of a penalty unit. Accordingly, I’ve been persuaded that this abstraction can be minimised, and that it is justified in regard to the objective of ensuring the government is able to efficiently ensure that legislation remains current.

I say this stating however the level of penalty unit can only be changed by an act of this Assembly. I commend the bills to honourable members.

Debate adjourned.

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