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Reverend the Hon. Dr Gordon Moyes: My question is directed to the Minister for Lands, representing the Minister for Juvenile Justice. Is the Minister aware of research conducted by the University of Sydney on 800 juvenile offenders in custody in New South Wales and those serving on community orders, which found that: more than 60 per cent had parents or other relatives who had spent time in prison

Rev the Hon. Dr Gordon Moyes: My question is directed to the Minister for Lands, on behalf of the Minister for Local Government: Is the Minister aware of the serious and ongoing proportional reduction in State Government funding for public libraries over the past 25 years, from 23.6 per cent of the total operating costs of public libraries in 1980, to 7.8 per cent in 2004-05, with further reductions including a massive cut of $1,023,000 (4.16 per cent) in 2006-07?

The Bill amends the Summary Offences Act 1988 to make it an offence (maximum penalty of $5,500 or imprisonment for 2 years, or both) of possessing or using, without reasonable excuse, a laser pointer in a public place. Similar to the scheme that exists for knives, people will be required to provide a lawful excuse as to why they possess a laser pointer in a public place.

Reverend the Hon. Dr Gordon Moyes: My question is directed to the Minister for Primary Industries, representing the Minister for Gaming and Racing. Is the Minister aware of endemic poker machine gambling in south-west Sydney, with some families in Fairfield spending a staggering three-quarters of their disposable income each year on gambling, and that $1.5 billion is lost each year in Sydney’s west on gambling?

Reverend the Hon. Dr Gordon Moyes: I ask the Attorney General, on behalf of the Minister for Health, the following question without notice. Is the Minister aware that cannabis continues to be the most popular illicit drug in Australia, with new figures showing that more than 200,000 Australians are believed to be dependent on cannabis and about one in 10 people who try the drug becoming dependent on it?

Reverend the Hon. Dr Gordon Moyes: My question is directed to the Minister for Roads, on behalf of the Minister for Transport: Is the Minister aware of the joint venture by Queensland Rail, Stockland, and Kaplan Funds Management to create a major intermodal facility at the Department of Defence National Storage and Distribution Centre in Moorebank as part of its plans to build a national freight business to take trucks off Sydney’s roads?

This bill seeks to amend 57 Regulations, Acts and other instruments of New South Wales legislation. Firstly, it seeks to amend the Anti-Discrimination Act 1977 by adding ‘domestic status’ along with ‘marital status’, so that same sex de facto relationships are included. This will align it with the Property (Relationships) Act 1984, which includes same sex couples in the definition of de facto relationships.

This Bill amends the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 and other Acts and instruments to improve the NSW planning system. The Building Professional Amendments Bill 2008 and the Strata Management Legislation Amendment Bill 2008 are cognate with this Bill. The expressed intent of the amendments is to simplify, speed up, and make cheaper the processing of development applications and appeals, improver certifier accountability, and also impose greater accountability on Councils in the collection and subsequent application of Section 94 contribution monies.

The objectives of the Medical Practice Amendment Bill are to amend the Medical Practice Act 1992 and the Health Care Complaints Act 1993. The purpose of the Bill is intended to improve public protection within the health system by providing the NSW Health Care Complaints Commission and the NSW Medical Board with improved powers to deal quickly and effectively with complaints about medical practitioners.

This bill has two objectives. The first is concerned with amending the Jury Act 1977, to put into effect a number of recommendations from the NSW Law Reform Commission’s January 2008 Report regarding jury selection. The other is to amend the Criminal Appeal Act 1912 to enable appeals to be made regarding decisions made in the discharge of a jury.