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The Shop Trading Bill 2008 deregulates shop trading hours while still restricting trading on Good Friday, Easter Sunday, Anzac Day morning, Christmas Day and Boxing Day. The bill provides exemptions even for the restricted trading days for certain small shops, repeals the Shops and Industries Act 1962 and transfers provisions relating to weekday and weekend trading by banks to other Acts.

Reverend the Hon. Dr Gordon Moyes: My question is directed to the Minister for Roads on behalf of the Minister for the Illawarra. Is the Minister aware that the Illawarra region consistently suffers an unemployment rate that is significantly higher than most other regions not only in New South Wales but also throughout the nation?

Reverend the Hon. Dr Gordon Moyes: I ask the Hon. Tony Kelly, on behalf of the Minister Assisting the Minister for Health (Mental Health), the following questions without notice. Is the Minister aware of the problem of self-harm, which can include intentional cutting, burning, scolding, banging or scratching one’s own body, breaking bones, pulling hair out, or ingesting toxic substances, and which is a problem symptomatic of underlying mental and emotional distress?

Reverend the Hon. Dr Gordon Moyes: My question is directed to the Attorney General, on behalf of the Minister for Fair Trading: Is the Minister aware that the welfare and safety of women and girls are being placed at risk by the lack of stricter Government regulation in the area of cosmetic surgery, an industry prevalent with serious dangers and abuses of many kinds?

I wish to speak on behalf of many Christian people who do not approve of this bill. I would like to state personally that I do not approve of shooting as a sport, and I wonder why it is an Olympic Games event. I do not like the concept of the spread of firearms.

I speak on the Children (Detention Centres) Amendment Bill 2008. The stated objective of the bill is to amend the Children (Detention Centres Act) 1987, first, to ensure that certain persons who are the subject of arrest warrant are not to be detained in detention centres; secondly, to clarify the provisions of that Act with respect to the separate detention of different classes of detainees; thirdly, to clarify the provisions of that Act with respect to the transfer of detainees from detention centres to correctional centres; and, finally, to make other minor, consequential and ancillary amendments.

The objective of the Hemp Industry Bill 2008 is to enable low-THC hemp to be cultivated and supplied for commercial production and other legitimate purposes in accordance with a licensing scheme to be administered by the Director General of the Department of Primary Industries. The proposed Act defines low-THC hemp as cannabis that has a concentration of tetrahydrocannabinol of no more than 1 per cent. The bill provides that the possession, cultivation or supply of low-THC hemp in accordance with a licence under the proposed Act will not constitute an offence under the Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act 1985.

The objective of the Threatened Species Conservation Amendment (Special Provisions) Bill 2008 is to amend the Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995 to confirm that the State Environmental Planning Policy (Sydney Region Growth Centres) 2006 has a biodiversity certification under that Act. The bill also amends the Local Government Act 1993 to make it clear that, for local government rating purposes, where part of a parcel of land is the subject of a conservation agreement under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974, the rate payable on the whole parcel is to be proportionately reduced.

Tonight I am pleased to inform the House of another excellent church-based initiative set up to offer practical assistance and friendship to a particularly vulnerable segment of our community—the women who survive by selling themselves on the streets of Sydney, particularly around Kings Cross. I will not try to civilise what they do by calling it “the sex industry”. It is not a regular, decent industry with set hours, safe working conditions, sick leave and public holidays. It is a harrowing last resort for desperate people.

Reverend the Hon. Dr Gordon Moyes: My question is directed to the Minister for Roads. Is the Minister aware that in recent years there has been increasing concern about the prevalence of drug driving in Australia, and that many drug users appear unconcerned about driving following the use of drugs other than alcohol and their possible detection by police?