I rise to speak on the Weapons Amendment Bill. In recent years a review into the current weapons legislation was conducted. We are told that this bill seeks to amend the Weapons Act and regulations as a result of key issues identified through the review of that weapons legislation.
I will address a number of issues mentioned within the bill. Firstly, the bill extends the current definition of bladed weapons to accord with national standards. I note that under section 51 of the Weapons Act a knife includes a thing with a sharpened point or blade that is reasonably capable of being held in one or both hands and being used to wound or threaten to wound anyone when held in one or both hands.
Within this bill before the House section 7A is amended, and that section deals with category M weapons and includes any clothing, apparel, adornment, accessory or other thing designed to disguiseany weapon or other cutting or piercing instrument capable of causing bodily harm. The section cites the examples of a Bowen knife belt or a credit card knife, which is a sharpened metal object the size, as its name suggests, of a credit card which can be easily carried in a wallet or purse. The bill goes on to encompass other bladed weapons such as flick knives, star knives and even walking sticks or canes that contain a secreted sword blade.
In September 2010 the Queensland Nurses Union provided a submission to the Weapons Act review. In particular, the union’s submission noted the changes regarding knives, bladed weapons and offences relating to the possession of them in public places. The union highlighted the situation of nurses in our hospital emergency rooms regularly being called upon to offer treatment to injured individuals who are carrying knives—and often these individuals are intoxicated, under the influence of drugs or both. This is clearly an unacceptable situation.
The bill also restricts the possession and use of a laser pointer with an output greater than one milliwatt to persons with a genuine reasonable excuse. Within the bill, a reasonable excuse is defined in clause 18 and allows members of recognised astronomical organisations, people who have genuine occupational reasons to have possession of a laser pointer, and firearms licensees under certain circumstances which are to do with the power output of the pointer.
All of us on both sides of this House, and I am sure the community, understand that the need for the restrictions pertaining to the possession has arisen over the years as a result of the actions of a number of deliberately negligent individuals. The actions to which I refer relate generally to these fools shining laser pointers into the cockpits of aircraft and have occurred not only here in Queensland but across most Australian jurisdictions.
On 29 June this year, a man from New Farm—who must best be described as an ‘irresponsible dope’—pleaded guilty in court to shining a laser at the Channel 9 helicopter on 29 May. A media article described the laser he had used as being ‘high-powered’, and that highlights this bill’s intention to limit the power output of laser pointers in terms of possession and use. The man in question did not point the laser at the helicopter once, twice or even three times. This gold plated idiot pointed the laser at the helicopter at least five times over a half-hour period—yes, five times from his apartment in the city.
Fortunately, a cameraman, having seen the green laser in the cockpit, was able to zoom in with his camera on the offender’s apartment and on a nearby street sign, and the information was passed on to police. The next day police raided the apartment and he was arrested for the laser offence and also a drug offence. I say well done to the pilot and well done to the cameraman and particularly well done to the police.
But—and there always seems to be a but when we start talking about sentencing of criminals in Queensland—under section 26 of the Summary Offences Act in Queensland, the offence of endangering the safe use of a vehicle by directing a beam of light from a laser carries a maximum penalty of two years imprisonment. Similarly, section 58(2) of the Weapons Act carries a sentence of 100 penalty units or two years imprisonment. Guess what the offender’s penalty was for shining a laser at the helicopter on five occasions? Not two years in jail, not one year in jail, not six months in jail, not three months in jail. On this occasion the offender received a measly $1,000 fine and walked free from the court. How is that for justice, Queensland style?
I find this most ironic as I am just about to speak briefly about increases in the penalties for behavioural offences involving weapons. In line with the national prohibited weapons agreement and the national prohibited weapons list, the bill is in line with other behavioural offences and doubles penalties for offences involving knives.