STATUTE LAW REVISION BILL 1999 Second Reading Speech

Northern Territory Second Reading Speeches

STATUTE LAW REVISION BILL 1999

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

Bill presented and read a first time.

Mr PALMER (Primary Industry and Fisheries): Mr Speaker, for and on behalf of the Attorney-General, I move that the bill be now be read a second time.

The purpose of the bill is to revise and correct the law of the Northern Territory in ways that do not reflect substantive changes in policy. This bill follows the general pattern of statute law revision bills in revising and correcting the law of the Northern Territory in minor aspects.

There are a number of amendments contained in this bill which I wish to draw to the attention of honourable members. A new Nursing Bill was introduced into this Assembly in the November/December sittings of 1998. Consequential to the new Nursing Act, this Statute Law Revision Bill makes certain amendments to various acts, ensuring that all references to nurses in those acts are consistent with the Nursing Act, 1999.

The bill also amends various health-related acts which established boards, such as the Optometrist Board, on which the Chief Health Officer is a member. These amendments provide for the Chief Health Officer to be able to appoint a nominee if he or she is unable to attend a meeting of a board.
Section 441 of the Criminal Code currently provides citizens with the power to arrest in certain circumstances. This power does not apply to members of the police force, as their powers of arrest are contained in the Police Administration Act. Section 26 of the Police Administration Act provides that police officers who have not taken the oath, ie trainee police officers, cannot exercise the powers under that act. The combined and unintended effect of these 2 provisions is to deny trainee police officers any powers of arrest. The bill rectifies this deficiency by ensuring that the citizens’ arrest powers contained under section 441 of the Criminal Code also apply to trainee police officers.

The Juries Act is also being amended to omit from schedule 4 the form of the summons to jurors. The amendment provides instead for the sheriff to approve the form of the summons. It is unusual for forms to be prescribed in an act, and this amendment provides flexibility so that the summons can be done more easily, can be more easily amended, when improvements are identified, or when the court upgrades information technology systems. Various amendments have also been made consequential to the commencement of the Financial Management Act and Audit Act in 1995. These amendments were overlooked at the time the acts were passed, but were recently identified by Northern Territory Treasury. Most of the amendments are contained in schedule 1 to the bill.

Schedule 2 of the bill also makes various amendments to the forms under the water regulations. These amendments make provision for the transfer of the Water Resource Division from the Power and Water Authority to the Department of Lands, Planning and Environment.

The other amendments are of a minor nature. Primarily, the changes are consequential to other legislative changes, or correcting inaccurate cross-references. I commend the bill to honourable members.

Debate adjourned.

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