Bills

Statutes Amendment (South Eastern Freeway Offences) Bill

Second Reading

Adjourned debate on second reading (resumed on motion).

Mr PEDERICK (Hammond) (15:44): I rise to speak to the Statutes Amendment (South Eastern Freeway Offences) Bill. I note that we are trying to get some fairness and equity into this legislation, notwithstanding the safety outcomes that we need and must always look for when we are introducing legislation like this.

I used to drive trucks and semitrailers down the old curly track that went around Eagle on the Hill and the Devil's Elbow—not the long, seven-kilometre long haul—back in 1992 and 1993. During the harvest, I brought around a dozen loads of my own wheat to Port Adelaide from Coomandook, so I know you have to come down in the appropriate gear. You only have to be one gear out to find that your brakes are smoking when you get to the bottom. It is wrong to come down too quickly, but you can manage it with gearing.

In 2019, we have far better trucks than we did in the old days. Some have automatic transmission and there are ways to control them; however, there have been some issues with what has happened here. Under the current legislation, a driver of a truck or bus can be issued with an expiation notice for a South Eastern Freeway offence, which includes fee of over $1,000, a loss of six demerit points and a licence disqualification of six months for a first offence, 12 months for a second offence and three years for a subsequent offence.

We are tidying up this legislation because people have an absolute fear, even though they believe they are doing the right thing. It is a fact that occasionally, in a heavy vehicle of over 4.5 tonne, which is the legislated limit, sometimes you have to touch the brakes. Even if you are in the right gear, you might need to keep it under speed. Some of these rigs have 18 gears or more. You may have slipped into too high a gear and have to pull it back.

In the main, I think the lessons have been learned due to the extra signage that has gone up over the years and the compliance that has been imposed. Unfortunately, we have witnessed some terrible accidents in previous years. Some of these were purely because those people had never driven the long journey down the hill. James Venning, of Pinnaroo, paid for it with his life. Sadly, we have seen smaller vehicles come down and it has caused a loss of life.

While we need to make sure that we have the right outcomes for safety, which is absolutely paramount, we also need to ensure that the truck-driving industry does not seize up because people are paranoid about coming down the freeway, or they lose their job because they have lost their licence. You have to obey the law. I must say that I think coming to some middle ground is a great outcome.

My Liberal Party branch has lobbied me in relation to this. Norm Paterson is a great man and a great leader in the Liberal Party. He is the patriarch of Paterson Bulk Transport in Cooke Plains. Norm was keen to get this legislation in place. I hope that it gets a smooth passage through the house because we need to get the balance right. We know that some people have paid the body corporate levy, which I believe is about $25,000. I believe that, with this upgraded legislation, we will get that balance correct, so that we are still getting those safety outcomes and we are taking some of the angst out of the community.

We have had some issues with people who have been in a Ford F-450, which is right on the 4½-tonne limit, but they do classify it as a truck. The problem is that, as soon as you pay the expiation fee, you have basically admitted guilt, and it is very difficult, if not impossible, to roll that back. I think we are making inroads into this today. I hope that we have generous support across the chamber. With those few words, I support the bill.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens) (15:50): I indicate to the house that I am the opposition's lead speaker on this matter. I start by saying that I congratulate the government on having the foresight to listen. I think it is a good sign that the shadow minister is beginning to listen.

Mr Pederick: That's you listening?

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: I said 'the minister'.

Mr Pederick: You said 'the shadow minister'.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: No, I didn't. Only the Government Whip would attack me while I am congratulating the minister. Only a cantankerous, old, past his usefulness Government Whip who cannot keep his word on pairs would attack me.

The Hon. C.L. Wingard: Says the Grandfather of the House.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: I think I am still younger than you, old man.

The Hon. S.K. Knoll: He's only 48.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Who?

The Hon. S.K. Knoll: You.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Yes. How old is this old man?

The Hon. C.L. Wingard: The same as you.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Is it 1971? I'm in August. We will skip a bit of history here. The Hon. Frank Pangallo in another place was inundated by a number of constituents who had been penalised by a piece of legislation that was developed by the previous Labor government in response to a Coroner's inquiry into an accident on the South Eastern Freeway down track. It was a very horrific accident. I should say it was a crash, rather than an accident.

That crash resulted in legislation. That legislation was formed on the basis of that Coroner's inquiry and report. That legislation passed the parliament in the last parliament. It passed when the former government was still in office. It was proclaimed in May of this year. I think 'became operational' is the correct term. What has occurred since then is that a number of people, who were not potentially the intended recipients or targets of the new legislation, bore the brunt of many of the recommendations made by the Coroner.

The minister and the opposition have worked quite well together to come up with a compromise, but I say this to the house: I do not have access to officers anymore. I do not have access to the police commissioner, to any other road safety experts or to the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator. I am relying on the advice given to us by the government and the minister, and I accept him at his word that the changes the government are making will not make the down track any more dangerous and that they live up to the spirit of what the Coroner recommended.

What we are attempting to do is make sure that there are no unintended consequences in the legislation that we moved and that was passed in a bipartisan way. I congratulate the minister and the Hon. Frank Pangallo on accepting many of the recommendations we made. One that we wanted made that cannot be made—and I accept the minister's explanation here—gave some retrospectivity to the penalties that have been applied already. The minister tells me he has no power to offer ex gratia payments and no power to retrospectively change court decisions that have occurred already.

I think there probably could have been a way to work through that, but I think the government is racing towards the end of what they call a glorious year. They want to prorogue the parliament: because everything has gone so well, they want to reset, which is very interesting in itself. The opposition will be supporting the speedy passage of this legislation through all stages, as we did in the upper house.

The minister has now indicated, late, that he has a transitional provisional amendment he would like us to support. I have not been briefed on that transitional amendment. The minister has given me a very brief, Stephan Knoll-like explanation of 'she'll be right'. Again, I accept the minister on his word—his advice to the house—that this will not in any way change the intent of the amendments of the upper house.

With those few words, this is an example that unfortunately the public will not see of the government, the opposition and the crossbench working well together to get an outcome through cooperative, democratic agreement. Hopefully, it will happen again, but I doubt it.

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL (Schubert—Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Local Government, Minister for Planning) (15:55): I thank all members for their forbearance on this and note that the opposition has been agreeable and amenable. This was a bipartisan piece of legislation back in 2017, and I think it remains so now. We have four minutes to do what we can do, so I will leave it here.

Bill read a second time.

Committee Stage

In committee.

Clause 1 passed.

Clause 2.

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: Just to clarify, the government's opposition to this is that at the moment the clause states that the act comes into operation on a date to be fixed by proclamation. In order to actually move and shorten the transition period, we would like to change that to on assent, which is earlier. It just means that we can introduce the new penalties, the lower penalties, quicker.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: I accept the minister on his word.

The ACTING CHAIR (Mr Pederick): Thank you for that cooperation.

Clause negatived.

Remaining clauses (3 to 7) passed.

New schedule 1.

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: I move:

Amendment No 2 [TransInfrLocalGov–1]—

Page 4, after line 20—Insert:

Schedule 1—Transitional provisions

1—Interpretation

In this Schedule—

South Eastern Freeway offence means—

(a) an offence against section 45C of the Road Traffic Act 1961; or

(b) an offence against section 79B of the Road Traffic Act 1961 constituted of being the owner of a vehicle that appears from evidence obtained through the operation of a photographic detection device to have been involved in the commission of an offence against section 45C(1) of the Road Traffic Act 1961.

2—Transitional provision

The provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act 1959 and the Road Traffic Act 1961 as amended by this Act do not apply in respect of a South Eastern Freeway offence committed or allegedly committed before the commencement of this Act (and the provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act 1959 and the Road Traffic Act 1961 as in force at the time of the offence or alleged offence will apply instead).

If you commit an offence before the assent the existing penalties apply. After the assent of this bill, the new penalties apply.

New schedule inserted.

Title passed.

Bill reported with amendment.

Third Reading

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL (Schubert—Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Local Government, Minister for Planning) (16:00): I move:

That this bill be now read a third time.

Bill read a third time and passed.