Speeding Fines

The Hon. T.J. STEPHENS (14:57): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Road Safety questions regarding speeding fines.

Leave granted.

The Hon. T.J. STEPHENS: On 3 August, the government blocked a parliamentary inquiry into speeding fines, which the opposition had hoped would provide South Australians with transparency and confidence that the money they were paying in speeding fines, which is currently double that of New South Wales, is being put to good use. At the time, the Minister for Road Safety said that such a parliamentary inquiry was unnecessary and that all the information is already well and truly on the table.

Since then, the government has commissioned a study by the Centre for Automotive Safety Research, with the minister telling us that, once we get those results back, we hope there will be some pearls of wisdom in there that we can turn into innovative policies. Given this, my questions to the minister are:

1. Does the minister concede that the government clearly did not have all the information well and truly on the table at the time of rejecting a parliamentary inquiry into speeding fines?

2. Will the minister commit to looking at alternatives for drivers with good driving records who make the occasional, inadvertent mistake?

I am not referring to the honourable Tom Koutsantonis on that one.

The Hon. P. MALINAUSKAS (Minister for Police, Minister for Correctional Services, Minister for Emergency Services, Minister for Road Safety) (14:58): I thank the honourable member for his question. Maybe, for the sake of clarity, I might explain the exercise that is going to be undertaken by the Centre for Automotive Safety Research, as distinct from what was being proposed with the parliamentary inquiry. The Centre for Automotive Safety Research (CASR), working under the banner of the University of Adelaide, is specifically looking at measures that can be undertaken to address the issue of those who rack up a large number of fines or who might, indeed, become licence disqualified but continue to be repeat offenders.

It is a specific exercise outside of existing mechanisms—namely, speeding fines—to deter those people who often flout the law from doing so in the future. It will not necessarily be contemplating changes to the existing penalty regime, which I understand the proposed parliamentary inquiry was to look at, but rather might be looking at the use of other policy areas that could achieve that objective; for instance, the introduction of new technologies, as was the case with the Alcohol Interlock Scheme some years ago.

In respect of the idea of altering the existing arrangements with speeding fines in South Australia, what I can say is that it is important to remember where the money goes. I will be the first to acknowledge that paying speeding fines is not something that South Australians enjoy. Speed cameras, red light cameras, speeding fines generally are never going to be the recipient of affection within the community. That is well known and something that I acknowledge. But we have to look at what happens to speeding fine revenue to inform our view of that revenue.

Every dollar that is raised from speed cameras goes into the Community Road Safety Fund. Every dollar that goes into the Community Road Safety Fund is expended on road safety measures, and there is a whole range of different things that could be. It could be the Centre for Automotive Safety Research, it could be investment in shoulder sealing projects, it could be investment in education projects. There is a whole range of things that that money is invested in to make our roads safer.

The fact is that we know speeding fines do deter people from speeding and we know that it does fundamentally alter driving behaviour in South Australia. The record speaks for itself. I have seen numerous statistics that point to this. For example, we have seen a reduction in the number of road fatalities that are occurring in South Australia, which is something that isn't necessarily happening in other jurisdictions.

We have seen a reduction in the number of road fatalities occurring where speed was a contributing factor to the accident. We have seen a reduction in speeding fine revenue. We are seeing a reduction in terms of the number individual cameras are delivering in offences caught. So, on a whole range of different measures we have seen a change in driving behaviour in South Australia, where speeding is on the decline, and that is unequivocally a good thing.

Speeding dramatically increases the likelihood of an accident on our roads. While none of us want to receive a speeding fine, something we want even less is to be involved in an accident where, tragically, someone loses their life. Speed cameras make a contribution to our roads being safer. I know and understand that this is a hot button issue, and I understand that, particularly for those people who might have a rare incursion and make a mistake. I myself have done that, something I have acknowledged previously.

Speeding fines are an important deterrent for people speeding with impunity on our roads and they do make our roads safer. That is something we want to continue to see, if we are going to have the road toll in South Australia continue to reduce.