Mr Speaker. I am going to outline some enforcement powers. These powers enable an officer to enter premises by consent or by warrant for the purpose of, among other things, determining whether the act or the associated provisions have been or are being complied with or substantiating information provided under the act or the associated provisions.
The following are the monitoring powers that an inspector may exercise in relation to premises under section 232. They are the power to search the premises and anything on the premises; the power to examine any activity conducted on the premises; and the power to inspect, examine and even take measurements of or conduct tests on anything on the premises. The inspectors also have the power to make any still or moving image or any recording of the premises or anything on the premises. So Mr Speaker, I suppose we are talking surveillance powers!
Inspectors also have the power to take extracts from or make copies of any document and the power to take onto the premises such equipment and materials as the they require for the purpose of exercising powers in relation to the premises. A person is not excused from giving an answer or producing a document under section 235 on the grounds that the answer or the production of the document might tend to incriminate the person or expose the person to a penalty.
What I have been quoting gives sweeping powers to inspectors to enter premises, compel individuals to give self-incriminating evidence and copy sensitive records.
But where are these powers found? These powers are not bestowed upon agencies investigating serious crime or undertaking counter-terrorism inquiries. Oh no! These powers are from just one of Labor’s carbon tax bills.
Labor will stop at nothing to enforce Australians to pay more under a carbon tax. The people of Queensland will never forgive or forget this Labor government for bestowing this tax upon them.