Parliamentary record : Part I debates (27 February 1990)
Debates for 5th Assembly 1987 - 1990; ParliamentNT; Parliamentary Record; 5th Assembly 1987 - 1990
1990-02-27
Made available by the Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory
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Debates
Northern Territory Legislative Assembly
Darwin
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Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory
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https://hdl.handle.net/10070/220388
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/699398
DEBATES - Tuesday 27 February 1990 share my concern for the need for this legislation to control ozone-depleting substances. Mr Deputy Speaker, I commend the bill to the House. Debate adjourned. LITTER AMENDMENT BILL (Serial 255) Bill presented and read a first time. Mr McCARTHY (Labour, Administrative Services and Local Government): Mr Deputy Speaker, I move that the bill be now read a second time. Thi s bi 11 is introduced to overcome the prob 1 em of ill ega 1 dumpi ng of refuse and rubbi sh on vacant Crown 1 and. At present, the Li tter Act does not apply to vacant Crown land which is not used as a public place. There are numerous blocks throughout the Terri tory, owned by the Northern Territory government, which are destined for future development. Unfortunate 1y, many of these blocks have been used by some members of the general public as unauthorised garbage dumps. Prosecution of these offenders is not possible under the current legislation as the offence of littering is restricted to a public place. Blocks of vacant Crown land, which are not held under any licence or authority and not used for public traffic or recreation, are outside the definition of a 'pub1ic p1ace ' in the Litter Act. Honourable members may be aware of the excessive cost to the Northern Territory government to clean up these areas. Recently, the cost for just one block. was over $18 000, although the average cost is much less. If the Litter Act had been able to be applied to individual dumpers on vacant Crown 1and,this problem would have been more controlled. This bill seeks to remedy this anomaly. Now, the legislation will apply to all vacant Crown land with some exceptions, as explained in the amending legislation. Municipalities and owners of freehold land and leases have always been able to obtain coverage under this act if they wi shed to do so. Thi s bill extends the coverage of the Li tter Act to community government areas and the town of Jabiru as well as to vacant Crown land. In drafting this amendment, the opportunity was taken to review the prescribed penalties as the present mere $200 fine is no longer an adequate deterrent or penalty for serious offences under the Litter Act. This government is envi ronmenta lly aware and knows that people want deterrent penalties imposed where serious, irresponsible and environmentally-harmful offences are perpetuated. Accordingly, it is proposed that the penalties of $200 and $300 be increased to $2000 and $3000 for littering and for littering involving dangerous materials respectively. These are the maxima which a court may impose. Three other penalties have been increased to a lesser degree, and the fixed penalty for on-the-spot fines has increased from $20 to $50. Mr Deputy Speaker, I commend the bill to honourable members. Debate adjourned. CRIME VICTIMS ADVISORY COMMITTEE BILL (Serial 243) Continued from 29 November 1989. 8821