A rare show of unity in the Upper House today saw the Summary Offences Amendment Bill - which proposes changes to fireworks legislation -passed with full support of Government, Opposition, and Independent Senators.
00:00In what is being called a tripartisan approach, the Senate approved the Fireworks Amendment Bill today.
00:07The Attorney General, John Jeremy, piloted the legislation in the Senate.
00:11The government is not against fireworks as a whole.
00:17But we recognize that the use of fireworks can be harmful to the well-being of families and to persons, particularly younger persons, older persons and those with health conditions.
00:40He noted the amendments proposed by the opposition were accepted in the Loa House yesterday.
00:47All in all, it was a rare day of bipartisan legislative effort in the other place.
00:56All of the members in the other place, on both sides of the House, agreed without dissent to pass the legislation.
01:09Opposition Senator Foster Cummings was a sole contributor from his bench, voicing support for the bill while cautioning about the challenges of using video evidence to issue fixed penalty notices.
01:22While the bill does take into account the question of video recordings and so forth,
01:31It is not possible, it is not going to be easy to achieve that objective.
01:42And more so in an era where it is so easy to manipulate video recordings using AI.
01:57From the independent bench, Senator Anthony Vero lent his full backing.
02:03The right to celebrate must not override the right to health, the right to sleep, the right to be safe.
02:12For those who say that fireworks are like fleeting dreams, bursting with color and light, leaving behind a trail of smoke and wonder,
02:21I say, love is the only firework that never fades.
02:25The fourth and final contributor to the bill also came from the independents.
02:30Senator Francis Lewis, who withdrew amendments he proposed, saying he understands the legislation to be a work in progress
02:38and expressed the hope that legislators can, in short order, have a relook at the law.
02:44He proposed the areas where fireworks are prohibited to be expanded.
02:49It's not just the hospitals.
02:52My mother is 93. She's in an old folks' home.
02:56And that is not unique to me.
02:58That's consistent with many of our members.
03:01That should be a sanctuary for our people.
03:04And if they are suffering from defermities, Alzheimer's, etc., this thing really drives people crazy.
03:15I don't know, I did not see in the bill, leading government business, if you could communicate to the AG,
03:23surely there must be a restriction around discharge of fireworks near police stations, all 73 of them, near prisons.
03:30He would also like to see guidelines visible and published clearly for users.
03:36I wonder whether there ought not to be also similarly prominent signs, almost billboard size,
03:42that says this is the law and if you break it, here are the penalties.
03:47And on every sales receipt.
03:49When you buy it and you get the item, you need to be alerted that the law allows its use, but within some very restricted terms.
04:01So those are some of the things that I would like to consider, but maybe today is not the time to consider it.
04:09When the division was called, the bill was passed unanimously with all 30 senators from government, opposition and the independent benches voting in favor.
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