HISTORIC CULTURAL HERITAGE AMENDMENT BILL 2012

Mrs ARMITAGE ( Launceston ) - I will be supporting the possibility that this goes to committee B. From what I heard this morning there was some confusion and many issues. I take on board the comments from the honourable member for Mersey that people have had ample opportunity, however the fact that they have had ample opportunity does not mean that we should not get the very best bill we should. People may not have put their submissions in early enough or they may not have come to us early enough. That does not mean we say, 'Okay you go away and we will have a less than perfect bill, because you have not come to us soon enough'.

I accept the reasons put by the honourable member, however, if we have the opportunity, over four to six weeks, to make it a better bill, I would rather we did it once and did it properly rather than being anxious to it get through. Four weeks, six weeks - it has been going on for how many years - seven or eight years? If it has been going for eight years another month or another couple of months are not going to make any difference at all to people.

Do we do it now, as it is, with a few deficiencies, or do we wait another couple of months and have a better bill? I believe the majority of people would want a better bill. We have waited a long time, and if you are going to do it then, as I said, do it properly. I will be supporting the motion before us.