6765 i[pe4atiw Aniwpmbtg Thursday, 14 November 1991 THE SPEAKER (Mr Michael Barnett) took the Chair at 10.00 am, and read prayers. PETiTION - FERAL CATS AND FOXES Control Legislation MR WATT (Albany) [10.02 am]: I have a petition in the following terms - To- The Honourable the Speaker and members of the Legislative Assembly of the Parliament of Western Australia in Parliament assembled. We, the undersigned, request the Government to take urgent legislative action to combat the threat to our native wildlife from feral cats and foxes. Your petitioners therefore humbly pray that you will give this matter earnest consideration and your petitioners, as in duty bound, will ever pray. The petition bears 1 270 signatures and I certify that it conforms to the Standing Orders of the Legislative Assembly. The SPEAKER: I direct that the petition be brought to the Table of the House. [See petition No 140.] PETITION - JUVENILE CRIME Legislation Amendments MRS EDWARDES (Kingsley) jlO.03 am): I have a petition couched in the following terms - To: The Honourable the Speaker and Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Parliament of Western Australia in Parliament assembled. We, the undersigned, on behalf of the innocent victims of juvenile crime, call on the Parliament to legislate the following changes to our laws - 1. Minimum Terms, Mandatory Sentencing Mandatory minimum terms to remove judicial discretion. Maximum terms retained, for use in extreme penalties. Prior sentences to be taken into account. Sentences for each crime to be served separately and cumulatively. Prosecution to continue its case after plea and sentencing. 2. Nre-Sentence Reports Mandatory for Judges to consider before sentencing. 3. Victim Impact Statements Mandatory offer to victims (including families and close frends) whether defendant pleads guilty or not guilty. 4. Age Limits Those living away from home on their own resources, automatically classed as adults. Adult crimes to be defined and punishments to fit. Review of under 1S juvenile classifications. 5. Restitution Mandatory, either monetarily or through enforceable work orders. Improved examination of defendants' resources. 6. Public Education 6766 [ASSEMBLY] Community education programmes to inform citizens of their legal rights as victims of crime. Government assistance programmes for victims (legal, psychological, financial). Your petitioners therefore humbly pray char you will give this matter earnest consideration and your petitioners, as in duty bound, will ever pray. The petition bears 214 signatures and I certify that it conforms to the Standing Orders of the Legislative Assembly. The SPEAKER: I direct chat the petition be brought to the Table of the House. [See petition No 141.J MOTION - GOVERNMENT BUSINESS Closing Days of Session MR PEARCE (Armadale - Leader of the House) [10.08 am]: I move - That, unless otherwise ordered, (a) Government Business shall take precedence on Wednesdays as on other days; (b) Standing Orders Nos 224 and 225, relating to Grievances, be suspended; and (c) chat so much of the Standing Orders be suspended as is necessary to enable Bills to be introduced without notice and to proceed through all stages on any day and to enable messages from the Legislative Council to be taken into consideration on the day on which they are received. This is a normal motion which allows the Notice Paper to be cleaned up as far as possible during the last couple of weeks of the session. I have followed a consistent practice since becoming Leader of the House of not moving this motion any further out from the end of session than two weeks. That was a substantial change to the approach taken by some of my predecessors from the conservative side who would introduce such a motion up to four or five weeks before the end of the session at which time the House was asked to relinquish all other business and attend to Government business. I have moved the motion in this case in the knowledge that 47 items are still on the Notice Paper. Mr House: You put 30 on in the last week. Mr PEARCE: That is not the case. A small number of Bills were introduced during the past few weeks. it is proposed to leave most of them until the autumn session next year to allow members an opportunity to study them. Further Bills will be introduced between now and the end of session for a similar purpose - to provide members with an opportunity to look at legislation over a long time because some members opposite do not seem all that quick in working out what Bills mean or in deciding their attitude to those Bills. Mr Cowan: We can add up. The Leader of the House should put in his order for Christmas dinner. Mr PEARCE: I have absolutely no objection to that. I point our also that the Joint House Committee has advised me that it has aranged for the members' dinner to be held on Wednesday of the next sitting week, and it has requested that the House adjourn at 5.00 pm on that day. That will make a significant hole in the time available to members to discuss legislation. In order to accommodate that arrangement, it will probably be necessary, depending upon the amount of progress we make during the next sitting week, for the House to sit on the Thursday evening of char week and also of the week after, which will be the last sitting night in the normal course of events, when we will just go until we finish. Mr Cowan: The National Party will oppose that part of the motion. Mr PEARCE: I thought the National Party members would follow their normal practice and shoot through half way through Thursday afternoon, leaving the rest of us to conduct business. This renewed interest of the National Party in politics is very refreshing. I still [Thursday, 14 November 19911 666767 believe that with a bit of goodwill we will be able to get through the majority of the important matters which are left on the Notice Paper, and we mostly do. MR CLARKO (Marmion) (10.11 am]: I have said here previously, probably to my disadvantage from time to time, that there are many ways in which this Leader of the House is superior to his predecessors. He has never argued with me about that statement; I think it is the only thing about which he has not argued with me. Many of the things that he does, such as giving us notice about future sittings of the House, are excellent. However, we have once again run into a log jamn with regard to our legislation. There is still some private members' business that we would like to progress beyond what was agreed to yesterday. I have on the Notice Paper a motion to disallow the Building Amendment Regulations in respect of swimming pools. That is an important issue. It is affecting the community at the present time, and penalties of up to $500 will be imposed upon people who do not comply with the regulations. I have come up with an approach in which I believe even the Minister sees some merit. Thai is not a lengthy matter, and I would like to have it dealt with. I am not sure whether the Independent members have any urgent matters with which they would like the House to deal. Is the Leader of the House still open to the possibility of providing a few hours to deal with some specific matters about which understandings have been reached in respect of the brevity of the motions? Mr Pearce: Depending upon progress, the Government would obviously be able to consider that, but when I announced three or four weeks ago that I proposed to move this motion today, the Opposition provided me with a list of the items with which it wanted to deal during the last two sitting weeks, and if we debate those matters expeditiously we will be able to cover every item, with the exception of one. Mr CLARKO: The item about which I am talking was originally on that list. Mr Pearce: You substituted one item yesterday, and in the previous week I think we dealt with all but one item. In fact, we are doing more business on private members' day than we are getting through in Government time. Mr Macinnon: Whose fault is that? There is a message there. Mr Pearce: The message is that Government members help Opposition members by keeping the length of debate to a reasonable minimum. We then sit down and argue with each other for eight or nine hours at a time about retirement villages legislation! The Government has been more expeditious in helping the Opposition with its business than is the reverse situation. If we receive the level of cooperation from Opposition members that Government members have shown the Opposition, we will be able to achieve what you are asking for. Mr CLARKO: Is it likely that Bills will be received from the Legislative Council which are not on that list? I commend the Leader of the House for producing a list which had on it "must do" and "would like to do", and that is of considerable advantage, but I know that in other years it has been necessary to accommodate additional Bills that are received from the Legislative Council. Mr Pearce: That will happen, but those Bills will be dealt with on the last day when it is too late for us to send items to the Legislative Council. When we get to the last couple of sitting days, there will be no point in our dealing with business that originates from the Legislative Assembly and we will then tidy up those Council Bills.