Sabin Mike: Summary Offences (Possession of High-power Laser Pointers) Amendment Bill — In CommitteeText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeSabin Mike: Summary Offences (Possession of High-power Laser Pointers) Amendment Bill — In Committee[Sitting date: 25 June 2014. Volume:699;Page:18910. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]MIKE SABIN (National—Northland):It appears I have blown the Opposition away.David Bennett: You’ve lasered them out.MIKE SABIN: Lasered them out indeed. I just want to pick up where my good Transport and Industrial Relations Committee chairman David Bennett has left off on this clause 2 the commencement date because there was a fair degree of conjecture and I am hoping that the member Dr Cam Calder will actually take a call and advise as to why he was willing to concede that a date of 28 days after the Summary Offences (Possession of High-power Laser Pointers) Amendment Bill received the Royal assent was satisfactory.Suffice it to say that there are a number of challenges in terms of this bill becoming an Act and going live as legislation because these devices are actually quite commonly held in the possession of people around the country. In fact there needs to be some degree of education and some degree of notification for those people that the possession of the high-power hand-held laser pointers would constitute an offence. It is quite right that we do not want to catch people on the hop. I think it also prevents stockpiling. Dr Calder may want to comment on that but the last thing we want is people of course stockpiling if they are given too much lead-in time. So it is all about getting the balance. Imagine someone having an enormous stockpile of hand-held high-power laser pointers that could be weapons of mass destruction in that context.I am quite confident that the member Dr Calder will be elucidating for the public as to the live commencement date of this bill once enacted being 28 days after the Royal assent because it is incumbent on him as a responsible member of Parliament to inform the public that this legislative change has occurred and that the malicious behaviour of individuals who seem to find some sort of entertainment in this use of these high-power laser pointers has come to an end. I think that gives Dr Calder fair time to inform people. Of course the police did allude to the fact that they would need some time from an enforcement point of view to actually see where this thing lands because although it is not a punitive bill—and I am sure Dr Calder will inform us all when he takes his next call on this—it is very much about prevention rather than taking a punitive approach.But the point is that the enforcement agency the police obviously have a role in that and there were some quite considered comments given by the police through the select committee submission process. So that is why when we wrestled with this point in the select committee and we did wrestle with this point—I think it was this point as well as whether or not the title should include “high power”. Those were the two points that caused the select committee some contention. But in terms of the commencement date I know that Dr Calder wanted to see this go live as soon as humanly possible. I know he was concerned that there was a likelihood that people would stockpile these things and there could be some sort of travesty in the fact that people would take liberties that they should not take. But I think we have landed in the right space with this. The 28 days simply provides ample opportunity firstly for the police to be fully informed of this law change.In all seriousness these things will take down an aircraft they will blind a driver and they have been used for those two purposes. I suspect that the police will be quite happy to go out and find someone to make an example of if they choose to disobey what will be a very sound piece of preventive legislation. But no doubt there will be some who will choose to challenge it. I think the police need that little bit of time to get themselves across that.Carol Beaumont: Relevancy.MIKE SABIN: Sorry you want me to talk about the—Carol Beaumont: Commencement date.MIKE SABIN: I am talking about the commencement date. The member is very very helpful—Hon Member: They are not listening.MIKE SABIN: They are not listening. The reason I am saying the commencement date—28 days after the Royal assent—is the importance of the police having the opportunity to get themselves across this legislation in due course. OK? Is it not funny when the boot is on the other foot? Is it not hilarious when the boot is on the other foot? But that 28 days is about balance. If there is one thing I will say about Dr Cam Calder it is that he is a man who sees the perspectives from all angles.