Jason Clare (Blaxland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This weekend is the Queen’s Birthday weekend. In the ACT it is also a fireworks weekend. It is a good time to look at the impact that fireworks sold in the ACTU have not just here in Canberra, but also 260 kilometres up the road in my electorate in south-west Sydney.

New South Wales banned the retail sale of fireworks years ago, but it is still a big problem, largely because of the laws here in the ACT. I get more complaints at my office about illegal fireworks than just about anything else. My colleague the member for Reid has the same problem. Fireworks are set off in parks and local streets, sometimes until three o’clock in the morning, upsetting little kids, upsetting the elderly and disturbing pets. A friend of mine had one fired at his car while driving home on Christmas night.

New South Wales laws ban the use of fireworks, but it has proven impossible to police. The only way to fix the problem is to bring ACT laws into line with those in the states. Every state in Australia has banned the sale of fireworks to members of the public. If the ACT were to adopt the same approach it would make a big difference in the suburbs I represent. It would stop the fireworks being brought in from Fyshwick and let off in Bankstown. The ACT government is currently reviewing their fireworks laws. On the eve of another Queen’s Birthday weekend, now is the time to act.