I commend those people involved in the making of this bill and the emphasis placed on the welfare of those people who need this type of accommodation; it is targeted toward those people and so it should be, in my view. As a police officer I can say very clearly that I experienced many conditions of these homes which were nothing short of deplorable and, in fact, were quite an embarrassment and I, as a police officer, in some instances did have some impact on the cleaning up of some of those boarding homes because it just was not suitable for human habitation, to be quite frank with you.

This bill will go a long way to correcting errors of the past. The amendment I previously referred to was well explained and I am now satisfied that the amendment probably ought not be there and that 'as soon as is practicable' probably covers the circumstances which I was concerned about. I applaud the people involved in the bill.

Mr AIRD (Derwent - Leader of the Government in the Council) - Mr President, I thank honourable members for their support for the bill. There is no doubt that this is a significant piece of legislation in terms of providing some balance with regard to those who, I think, are probably the most marginalised section of our community. I agree with the honourable member for Windermere that anyone who has had any experience in the past with the operation of some places where people have been residing in boarding houses will know that some of the conditions were deplorable. I do not think recent experience has shown them to be as bad but there have been experiences going back over the years where people have been very poorly treated indeed. I am pleased to know that some of those operations have now ceased to operate, and a good thing too, Mr President.

So I thank honourable members. I just wanted to reiterate that I think this is a significant piece of social legislation in terms of assisting those who are most marginalised in our community and I commend the bill to the Council.