EVIDENCE (IDENTIFICATION EVIDENCE) AMENDMENT BILL

Second Reading

Adjourned debate on second reading.

(Continued from 16 October 2013.)

The Hon. K.L. VINCENT (17:29): I will not speak for long as this is an issue that has seen a great deal of discussion in this place over the last few months. Before us is the third bill seeking to overhaul the courts' approach to identification evidence in recent memory. There is, I am certain all members will agree, a great deal of goodwill to see this issue addressed, with the range of bills being put forward by both government and opposition members, and those bills having enjoyed broad support from the Legislative Council in particular.

Efforts to address these issues have been unsuccessful to date due to a small and ever-shrinking list of disagreements regarding how best to approach certain aspects of the issue at hand. The effort by all involved to seek out a workable compromise has been encouraging and I hope that with this bill we can see all of the outstanding issues resolved.

This most recent government bill, much like the private member's bill of the Hon. Stephen Wade that this council recently passed, incorporates the concerns of a number of members, including myself, and I feel that this is a great opportunity to see those issues resolved.

I understand that there is a very small number of amendments, and for that reason we will not be proceeding beyond the second reading today. For my part, I would also like to give some notice that I have filed two amendments to clause 5 in order to clearly highlight the importance of accessibility for people with disability and people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds in relation to the review and report provisions. I hope that members will have received those amendments by now. If they have not, please let my office know.

As the Legislative Council has already discussed this issue on a number of occasions, I will conclude my comments by saying that I hope this bill will enjoy the support of the council and that this most recent attempt at a compromise will be successful. I commend the bill to the council.

Debate adjourned on motion of Hon. K.J. Maher.