Mr DEAN ( Windermere ) - Madam President, I will be supporting the bill moving into the Committee stage where I will raise some issues in relation to some of the sections. This legislation brings us into line with the other jurisdictions in this country and those that do not have the legislation, I should imagine, will have it in place in the very near future.

The legislation is needed. If you look across the world at the present time there are a number of examples of where lasers have now been used for mischievous purposes and could have resulted in disaster. I have noted a couple of occasions in the papers of recent times. There was one occasion when our own Socceroos were very upset about it when they were playing a game against Kuwait City. It was a qualifying game for Australia to get into the World Cup. A green laser was used and they were very aggrieved about it because they thought that Kuwait were getting an advantage from that. I do not think that it would have made much difference in the recent Soccer World Cup because I think that we would have needed more than a green laser pointer to give us an advantage in that situation.

There is a closer one and that was a situation that occurred in Sydney. In the Examiner on 6 April 2010 it was reported that two teenagers were charged with shining a laser at a plane and a police helicopter - an extremely dangerous situation. The police were able to track down the offenders and the offenders were charged and I suspect they would have been convicted.

Laser pointers have some very dangerous repercussions. They have been around for a long time and I think that we have all used them but we use those with the minimum power, I guess, and normally they are used in lecture situations to point out things on boards and to assist in presentations. But here we are talking about the high-powered lasers, the green laser in particular, which has enormous power that can blind and cause incredible destruction in certain situations.

I did have some issues about the powers of police. The police in this instance are to stop and search and detain, if I interpret it correctly, and must have reasonable suspicion to do so under this legislation. In other words, they cannot just go out and randomly stop somebody to search to see whether or not they have a laser pointer on them in contravention of this legislation. They would need good evidence. They would need evidence that the person was seen using one, shining one or threatening to use one. I think perhaps this would give police reasonable grounds for carrying out a search, but the onus would be on police to demonstrate that they had reasonable grounds.

I then looked at whether it is strong enough legislation. As I understand and read this, police only have the power of arrest if found offending. If I could take the example -

Ms Thorp - Or in possession with no lawful excuse.

Mr DEAN - Once again they must have reasonable grounds to suspect that they are in possession of it in the first place.

Ms Thorp - They can be told.

Mr DEAN - In the instance of the teenagers in Sydney that I have referred to, as I understand it the police would not have had the power to arrest those persons unless they were able to identify them using that laser contrary to the legislation. Having located them, they would have needed to take out warrants.

Ms Thorp - I am not sure about the circumstances in New South Wales but my understanding is that if police had a reason to suspect that someone had one, that would be enough.

Mr DEAN - No, I think it would need to be more than that. I think that they would need to have more evidence and I think that the evidence would be that they had been found offending, but I could be wrong.

Ms Thorp - It does not say that.

Mr DEAN - I could be wrong and I hope I am wrong.

Ms Thorp - We might get to that in the Committee stage.

Mr DEAN - I would hope that I am wrong because I think the police ought to have power of arrest in a situation where they have strong grounds to believe that an offence had been or was being committed.

Mr Parkinson - It is an offence to possess, carry or use.

Mr DEAN - That is right, but what happens if a person had used a green laser light, contrary to this legislation, had discarded the green laser light, but police were then told of the person and the fact that they had possession of it and had used it?

Ms Thorp - Then it would be hearsay, wouldn't it?

Mr DEAN - That is right, that is what I mean.

Ms Thorp - But you can say that about anything. 'I saw that person with a bag of cocaine, the person threw it away' -

Mr DEAN - There are situations where police, if they have good grounds for believing, have the powers of arrest.

Ms Forrest - It does say 'use' as well though. So if there is evidence that they have used it -

Mr DEAN - Yes, I know that. But then I think if the person has used it, they have to have been found offending, as I understand it, by police. But if I am wrong then so be it and that would be good, in my opinion. I think that we need to ensure that police have the authority and the legislative backing to perform their duties appropriately and effectively in all of the circumstances.

So, Madam President, the legislation, as I said, is necessary. I am still concerned about the position of whether a police officer should be in the lawful performance of their duties, and I have raised that. The one that probably concerns me more is a State Service employee being exempt from this legislation, and I will expand further in the Committee. They can use one, even if they deliberately and intentionally use it, provided they are engaged in the performance of their duty; they have not committed an offence. Why single out State Service employees? Why should we not have included local government members and some other groups in there? I know that the commissioner can give authority in certain circumstances but there would need to be an application made to the commissioner.

Madam President, I will raise those issues in the Committee stage and expand on them.