ROAD SAFETY STRATEGY

Mr GOLDSWORTHY (Kavel) (15:35): I want to raise in the house this afternoon some elements of the Road Safety Strategy that the government has recently released, in particular proposed changes to the Graduated Licensing Scheme and how it relates to drivers on learner's permits and provisional licence permits. I want to inform the house of some information we have received (it is in the public domain) on some feedback. I know the government is calling for feedback and submissions in relation to its proposed changes to the Graduated Licensing Scheme. I want to highlight to the house some information from some of the key stakeholder groups involved in this, and from some individual members of the community.

I was listening to the radio intently at the end of last week and I happened to hear Mr Martin Small, the Director for Road Safety from the Department for Planning, Transport and Infrastructure, espousing the virtues of the policy. I guess he has not got much choice because one of his roles is to promote the policy of the government of the day.

However, I do want to provide the house with some information from key stakeholders, one being the RAA (Royal Automobile Association). I quote from a newspaper article in The Advertiser on this issue:

The RAA has questioned the evidence behind the move and called for increased training of drivers on a learner's permit regardless of age...RAA group managing director Ian Stone said the government had failed to produce convincing evidence that a recent increase in the learner's permit period from six to 12 months had delivered a major road safety benefit.

That is a very important point to make because, as we know, the government introduced new licence measures approximately 12 months ago, increasing the number of supervised hours for L-platers from 50 to 75 hours and the minimum length of time you can be on that permit from six to 12 months.

The point we need to make is that those L-platers are only just coming out of that 12-month period and getting their P1s now, so even though we do not know the outcome of those changes that have been in effect for 12 months, the government is proposing even more changes: The Advertiser article further states:

Increasing supervised driving time would ensure 'all new drivers, regardless of their age, can better their driving skills and knowledge before driving alone'...'New drivers need experience and the more they get, the better drivers they will be.'

It is my understanding that the RAA proposes not to adopt any of the proposed changes that the government is putting forward, but it is looking to increase the supervised driver training to 120 hours during that 12-month period. I have to say that from a personal point of view I do not think that is necessarily a bad proposal. I also want to quote from a press release put out by the Youth Affairs Council of South Australia (YACSA) in response to the government's proposals. It reads:

The government's proposed changes to the law for young drivers must strike a balance between young people's safety on the roads, and their right to participate fully in employment, education, and social activities...

YACSA's Executive Director, Anne Bainbridge, said, 'In all of our advocacy work in this area, we have acknowledged that young people are overrepresented in road accident statistics, but we would caution against overly punitive measures that may lead to young people missing out on employment, education, training and social activities because of restricted transport options, especially young people living in rural and regional South Australia.'

They are some very important points in relation to this proposal and the public debate we are currently having concerning changes to the GLS.