Estimates Vote

South Australia Police, $956,986,000

Administered Items for South Australia Police, $65,000

Department for Infrastructure and Transport, $1,071,420,000

Administered Items for Department for Infrastructure and Transport, $4,045,000

Minister:

Hon. V.A. Tarzia, Minister for Police, Emergency Services and Correctional Services.

Departmental Advisers:

Ms L. Williams, Deputy Commissioner of Police, South Australia Police.

Mr S. Johinke, Director, Business Service, South Australia Police.

Ms E. Kokar, Executive Director, Road and Marine Services, Department for Infrastructure and Transport.

Ms S. Clark, Director, Road Safety, Policy and Research, Department for Infrastructure and Transport.

Mr L. Pineda, Manager, Budgeting and Reporting, People and Corporate Services, Department for Infrastructure and Transport.

The CHAIR: Welcome back, everybody, to Estimates Committee A. We are dealing this morning with the Minister for Police, Emergency Services and Correctional Services in regard to road safety.

The estimates committees are a relatively informal procedure and, as such, there is no need to stand to ask or answer questions. I understand that the minister and the lead speaker for the opposition have agreed to an approximate time for the consideration of proposed payments, which will facilitate a change of departmental officers. Can the minister and lead speaker for the opposition confirm that the timetable for today's proceedings as has been previously distributed is accurate?

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA: Yes, Mr Chair.

Mr ODENWALDER: Yes, Chair.

The CHAIR: Changes to committee membership will be notified as they occur. If the minister undertakes to supply information at a later date, it must be submitted to the Clerk Assistant via the Answers to Questions mailbox no later than Friday 24 September 2021.

I propose to allow both the minister and the lead speaker for the opposition to make opening statements of about 10 minutes each, should they wish. There is a flexible approach to giving the call for asking questions. A member who is not on the committee may also ask a question at the discretion of the Chair.

All questions are to be directed to the minister, not the minister's advisers. The minister may refer questions to advisers for a response. Questions must be based on lines of expenditure in the budget papers and must be identifiable or referenced. Members unable to complete their questions during the proceedings may submit them as questions on notice for inclusion in the assembly Notice Paper.

I remind members that the rules of debate in the house apply in committee. Consistent with the rules of the house, photography by members from the chamber floor is not permitted. Ministers and members may not table documents before the committee; however, documents can be supplied to the Chair for distribution. The incorporation of material in Hansard is permitted on the same basis as it applies in the house, that is, that it is purely statistical and limited to one page in length.

The committee's examinations will be broadcast in the same manner sittings of the house are broadcast through the IPTV system within Parliament House, via the webstream link to the internet and the Parliament of South Australia video-on-demand broadcast system. One final addition to my comments is that I would suggest that members wear masks while they are in the committee unless they are asking or answering questions.

I now proceed to open the following lines for examination. The portfolio is road safety and the minister appearing is the Minister for Police, Emergency Services and Correctional Services. I declare the proposed payments open for examination. I call on the minister now to introduce his advisers and make a statement, if he wishes.

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA: Good morning, members. I will begin by introducing those who are with me this morning. To my left, we have Ms Emma Kokar, Executive Director of Road and Marine Services, Department for Infrastructure and Transport. In the second row, we have Linda Williams, the Deputy Commissioner of Police; and Steve Johinke, Director, Business Service, South Australia Police. In the third row, we have Luis Pineda, Manager, Budgeting and Reporting, People and Corporate Services, Department for Infrastructure and Transport, and also Sarah Clark, Director, Road Safety, Policy and Research, Department for Infrastructure and Transport.

I will begin by making a very brief opening statement, if I may. The Marshall Liberal government is committed to improving road safety in South Australia. As we know, in the 2020 calendar year South Australia recorded 93 lives lost, 18 per cent lower than the 114 lives lost recorded in 2019 and three fewer lives lost than the previous five-year average of 96.

Improving road safety requires a multifaceted approach, encompassing the safety of the road environment, vehicles in which people travel and the behaviour of everybody on the road. South Australia's road safety activities are shared between two agencies: the Department for Infrastructure and Transport and South Australia Police. DIT is currently leading the development of a new road safety strategy for the state to 2031.

The strategy will set the direction for reducing lives lost and serious injuries in our state over the next decade. The strategy will guide decisions and investment, with a focus on the safe movement of people throughout the state. Extensive consultation with stakeholders and the community commenced in August 2020, with a series of 10 webinars with road safety stakeholders. A statewide survey on YourSAy, a government community engagement platform, was undertaken in October and November, with over 1,300 submissions received.

A series of focus sessions and subject-based workshops were held in addition to three regional community workshops in areas associated with high levels of road trauma throughout the state. Two workshops were also held with metropolitan and regional council reps to discuss local government road safety issues more broadly. The draft strategy was released for community consultation on the YourSAy website, and that will close later this year.

DIT has also administered the Road Safety Partnerships Program since July 19, introducing and building awareness of the Think! Road Safety initiative and associated campaigns. That program remains a critical component in building and maintaining a strong road safety culture and driving behavioural change in our state. Our focus is on influencing and improving driver behaviour through tailored peer-to-peer road safety campaign messages that are tailored to a partner's identified key audience and road safety issues of focus.

In 2021-22, DIT will deliver incremental improvements to motorcycle training, as well as a suite of reforms to raise the standards of the driver training industry. There is also obviously a record infrastructure spend on our roads. Works underway include installation of shoulder sealing, audio tactile line marking, median wire rope safety barriers, lighting improvements at rural junctions, roadside safety barriers, and variable speed limit signs to improve the safety around schools in rural and regional towns.

DIT is also progressing the installation of mobile phone detection cameras, a joint initiative with SAPOL announced as part of last year's budget, and that measure will target mobile phone use while driving. I open it to questions.

The CHAIR: Thank you, minister. Member for Elizabeth, do you wish to make a statement?

Mr ODENWALDER: Very briefly, sir. I welcome the minister and his advisers. It is going to be a long day. Notwithstanding what the minister said, I still have some concerns about the level of deaths and road trauma on our roads. Despite lockdowns and despite significantly decreased traffic movements, we still see an unacceptably high number of deaths on our roads. I am sure the minister will agree.

Since the axing of the Motor Accident Commission and the refusal of the minister to meet properly with the motorcycle reference group, we continue to see deaths on our roads, particularly among motorcyclists. We will obviously have some questions about the motorcycle reforms that have already taken place and are promised in the future.

I will start with the road safety strategy, since the minister mentioned it in his opening statement, and I will go to Budget Paper 4, Volume 3, page 114. I do not have a problem at all with the road safety strategy. It is good that after nearly four years the government is turning its mind to developing a road safety strategy, but the paper does not give us any real assurance of what is to come. It lists off some very good aspirations, particularly the safer systems stuff. I appreciate that the government is finally looking at that as a policy.

Just very briefly on the strategy, and apparently a lot of consultation has already taken place to inform the strategy consultation paper, have you, minister, asked for any work to be done regarding the increased use of cycling in the CBD? In cities like Paris and London, particularly during their extended lockdowns—which thanks largely to SAPOL and SA Health we have avoided—we have seen an increased use of cycling.

The landscape in those cities has changed and the environment in those cities has changed. Certainly from the last time I saw footage of Paris, and certainly since the last time I was there, it has changed almost beyond recognition. I wonder what the strategy is for commuter cycling particularly around the CBD and the suburbs?

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA: I thank the member for the question, and I appreciate the opposition's interest in doing whatever we can to reduce lives lost and serious injuries on our roads, and I will come to cycling. By way of background, the Road Safety Strategy to 2031 is being developed and it is being developed to guide decisions and actions over the next decade to reduce lives lost and serious injuries on our roads. The strategy is being informed by stakeholder and community feedback, road trauma statistics and other evidence. During 2020 and 2021, extensive community and stakeholder engagement has been undertaken.

To recap some of that, there were webinars for road safety stakeholders, including local government, and community consultation via the YourSAy website, with over 1,300 online surveys and written submissions received. There were community workshops in Tintinara, Yorketown and all across the state, and I attended one of the sessions in the Riverland. There were workshops not only in regional areas but there was also much engagement in the city, including stakeholder workshops and focus groups on specific issues informed by road safety stats and market research.

Obviously, that draft strategy is out for consultation, and I would implore anybody who is interested to have their say and make sure they get involved and contribute to the strategy. It has been looked at across the entire state.

In terms of walking, cycling and also public transport, improving safety for people who walk or cycle is extremely important. We do appreciate that in urban areas safer, lower speed environments may provide environmental health and also access benefits, by making road users feel safe and choose more active transport. This is actually touched on in the draft strategy.

I ask the member, if he is interested, to look at page 52 of that where it does talk about this sort of thing. It talks about how public transport is often a safer mode of transport than any form of road travel, based on crash exposure risk, and that efforts will need to be continued to be made to encourage greater use of shared transport where possible as well. Improved safety for pedestrians and improved public transport can also assist older road users to maintain mobility and also access to services without the need to drive their private motor vehicle. Young people also benefit from this freedom to travel safely before they are old enough to drive.

I do not want to monopolise too much time here, but the paper does refer to the specific issues around walking and cyclists. There are a number of key strategies that are spoken of in the overall strategy to improve roads for all road users. If the member wants to have a look at that, I would encourage him to do so and please circulate it far and wide. I encourage people in the city to have their say on what they think.

Mr ODENWALDER: It is interesting you should say that because on both my phone and my PC I am unable to access the YourSAy survey, and I have been unable to for the last two days. Can you explain that, or is it simply an IT problem I have encountered on both my phone and my PC?

Mr Pederick interjecting:

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA: I thank the member for the question. I see the member for Hammond is laughing. I am not sure why. I am sure he has accessed it.

The CHAIR: He is a keen cyclist, minister.

Mr PEDERICK: I was just saying, minister, that it would be operator error if I tried it.

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA: It could be operator error, but I do not believe it is operator error. But what I can say is that—

Members interjecting:

The CHAIR: Order! The minister has the call.

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA: —honestly, when I tried to access the link it was working. I have to say the member for Elizabeth's is the first time that I have been aware of any purported issues with it. But we will certainly take that on board and endeavour to come back to the member with that. I was certainly not aware and the department is not aware of any issues of access to the survey.

Mr ODENWALDER: I will have to have a look at your copy when I make my submission. The minister talks about lower speed limits, and I think everyone would agree that in general the slower a car is going, the less damage it can do in a collision; I think that is beyond dispute. What work has the government done already in consulting with local government and other groups regarding lower speed limits in the suburbs and the CBD?

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA: I thank the member for the question. The government does work extensively with local councils, the Department for Transport and also South Australia Police in regard to speeding issues. If a local council wanted to reduce a speed limit in a local government area, that would be within the remit of a local council. They certainly will work with DIT in that regard.

The strategy does talk about movement and how the government can provide for, if you like, better infrastructure to provide more safety and security for certain areas. Obviously, it is very high level and it has a specific focus on things like, for example, safe system treatments such as roadside barriers, hazard removal, sealed shoulders, median treatments, audio tactile line markings, things like that, to do things like reduce run-off-road crashes and to reduce the likelihood and severity of intersection crashes. But again, if anyone does have any specific feedback, I implore them to make that submission as part of the consultation.

Mr ODENWALDER: Have you had any discussions with or any requests from the City of Playford to look at any speed limit reductions across the city?

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA: The City of Playford is a very good council with very good councillors who represent their local area very well. I do not have that information in front of me, but from time to time there will be local representatives who do advocate for certain treatments. I do not have those furnished in front of me but I will be happy to take that on notice.

Mr ODENWALDER: I will go to Budget Paper 4, Volume 3, page 144, which is a program about road safety. The targets include progressing improvements to motorcycle training through enhancements to the Rider Safe program. Of course, we ultimately passed legislation that enhanced the motorcycle licensing regime. In general, I think that was a very good thing to do and, ultimately, there was bipartisan support for those measures.

Some years ago, the previous minister commissioned a report from KPMG into motorcycle safety training, in particular, the Rider Safe program. You may be aware that the opposition acquired a copy of this report, and the report states that the department would like to explore the potential of outsourcing the Rider Safe motorcycle training regime to a private operator.

The document goes on to offer a number of options for privatising the program. Perhaps most alarming is the proposal to increase fees by up to 74 per cent. That would mean that a basic course would increase from $385 to $638, while the additional cost on that advanced course would increase from $342 to $595. Minister, when was this report completed and provided to government?

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA: I thank the member for the question. I am advised the date was late in 2020.

Mr ODENWALDER: Can you explain then why the previous minister advised, in a question on notice in fact, that it was before cabinet in early 2020 and that was why it could not be discussed?

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA: I thank the member for the question. I came into cabinet on 29 July 2020, which is one year and one day ago.

Mr ODENWALDER: Congratulations.

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA: Thank you. I am not trying to be a smart alec here, but obviously I cannot speak for the former minister and what was deliberated on in cabinet before I came in as a minister. I will try to be helpful with any other dates I can provide, but what the former minister did is not a matter for me.

Mr ODENWALDER: So you did not see the KPMG report between the date you were appointed minister and the November date that you just gave?

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA: No, I do not think I did.

Mr ODENWALDER: Is it your intention to expand the Rider Safe program?

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA: I thank the member for the question. In terms of what the government is doing to rider training, the government obviously has an aspiration to improve rider training, which is very important. New motorbikes are being purchased I believe this year as part of a series of improvements to Rider Safe to improve safety outcomes and also service delivery. I am advised a process is being initiated to update Rider Safe's training material to reflect evidence-based best practice, and that will include examination of the models that apply in other jurisdictions and consideration of what adaptations are needed for South Australian conditions, road rules and also delivery constraints.

I am advised that in recent years Victoria and Tasmania have introduced an on-road testing component as part of their rider training courses. Other Australian jurisdictions, including South Australia, currently have courses conducted in an off-road environment, so options are being explored to increase the number of people in regional and remote areas who complete formal Rider Safe training. Currently, people located more than 100 kilometres from a testing centre are not required to complete the course.

Our government is looking at how customer experiences around booking and accessing Rider Safe can be improved as well as whether any motorbike-specific online testing should be introduced as part of the process for getting a motorbike licence. Consultation on the proposed changes will occur with key stakeholders, with updated information on course and other service improvements intended to be delivered to novice riders from the second half of 2022.

Mr ODENWALDER: Will you increase fees for novice riders undertaking the Rider Safe program? If so, by how much?

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA: There is no proposal to outsource and no proposal to increase fees.

Mr ODENWALDER: Those proposals are within the KPMG report. I did see a proposal to keep everything exactly the same; is that the government's position then, that it is going to keep things as they are? I do not know how you intend to expand the Rider Safe program, as you have just outlined, without either increasing fees or perhaps outsourcing all or part of it.

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA: I respectfully refer the member to my previous answer.

Mr ODENWALDER: So you will not increase fees and you will not privatise Rider Safe?

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA: As I have said twice now, there is no proposal to outsource and there is no proposal to increase fees.

Mr ODENWALDER: Will you close the St Agnes Rider Safe centre?

The CHAIR: With all due respect, member for Elizabeth, you are asking the minister what he may or may not do—

Mr ODENWALDER: Yes.

The CHAIR: —at some point in the future, rather than questioning specific budget lines. However, I will leave it with the minister as to how he handles it.

Mr ODENWALDER: Perhaps I could clarify it then: the target for 2021-22 is to progress improvements for motorcycle training through enhancements to the Rider Safe program.

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA: Sorry; we are just moving around a bit here. There was a question and then an interruption. Could I have the question again?

Mr ODENWALDER: Will you close St Agnes?

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA: No.

Mr ODENWALDER: No? Excellent. Will you release the KPMG report in full, and when?

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA: I am advised it is not proposed to release the KPMG report because it also touches on a range of other matters unrelated to road safety.

Mr ODENWALDER: What would those matters be?

Mr Cregan interjecting:

Mr ODENWALDER: It is worth asking, member for Kavel.

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA: Member for Elizabeth, I am advised that a range of other matters are contained in that report. Some may be commercial-in-confidence and things like that, and that is why it has been decided at this stage that there are no plans to release the KPMG report.

Mr ODENWALDER: As one last question, I will go back to targets on Budget Paper 4, Volume 3, page 144. Where will the mobile phone detection towers be placed, what will be the criteria for choosing the sites and how many will there be?

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA: I can advise the member that the exact number of mobile phone detection cameras is yet to be determined. Mobile phone detection cameras will be installed at high-risk metropolitan sites. The exact locations at the moment are still to be decided. The proposed locations will be carefully worked through in consultation, of course, with South Australia Police, taking into consideration relevant offence data and also the available infrastructure.

It goes without saying that the government is committed to reducing dangerous and high-risk driving behaviours on our roads, such as distraction. We know that distraction is one of the leading causes of fatalities and serious injury collisions on our roads. The government will be investing $19.4 million into fixed mobile phone detection cameras at high-risk sites across metro Adelaide, and the high-definition cameras will target drivers illegally using mobile phones. This was announced as part of last year's budget.

The CHAIR: Having reached the allotted time, I declare the examination of the portfolio program road safety complete. Consideration of the proposed payments for SA Police will resume at 10.45am, following our morning break. Consideration of the proposed payments for the Department for Infrastructure and Transport will resume on Tuesday 3 August.