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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Second Session (51-2)
2007-11-15 Daily Xml
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PASSENGER TRANSPORT (SAFETY OF PASSENGERS) AMENDMENT BILL

Second Reading

Adjourned debate on second reading.

(Continued from 13 September 2007. Page 816.)

Mr O'BRIEN (Napier) (11:03): I spoke to this matter some weeks ago, and I will have to now recap. The member for Mitchell's bill seeks to amend the Passenger Transport Act in two ways. First, to make it compulsory for a taxi to be fitted with a GPS system that operates when the engine is running and records the GPS tracking for at least three months. This measure is clearly designed to assist police in identifying the perpetrators of sexual attacks on female passengers. Secondly, the bill seeks to improve the taxi security camera system so that an image is recorded every 60 seconds while the engine is running. This measure is clearly designed to improve safety for both the driver and the passenger.

The government will oppose the bill for the following reasons—and not on the basis of lack of merit. First, the requirement that a taxi be fitted with an operating GPS and a security camera system is already addressed in the Passenger Transport General Regulations 1994. Any finetuning of the operation of both these systems (GPS and security camera) would best be done by changes to regulation rather than the amendment to legislation being proposed by the member for Mitchell.

Having accepted that regulation would be the government's desired path, I would like to examine the member for Mitchell's proposals. On the issue of security cameras taking an image every 60 seconds, the government is currently considering a national standard which will stipulate a prescribed minimum standard that taxi camera security systems will have to meet. This standard is currently with the Australian Passenger Transport Group, a subcommittee of the Standing Committee on Transport.

I understand that the subcommittee questioned the benefit of recording images at one-minute intervals and is considering the taking of more frequent images at key times during a journey, such as the opening and closing of doors, the activation of the meter and the use of brakes, this to be done in conjunction with regular images taken during the journey. Rather than adopt the member for Mitchell's proposal, nationally there is consideration of what is believed would be a more effective use of the limited memory capacity of the camera. Rather than operating all the time and at one-minute intervals, it would actually be activated at those times when something probably amiss is happening within the taxi, that is, when the brakes are being activated or the doors are being opened.

Mr Hanna: Let's get some action.

Mr O'BRIEN: The problem is that it has gone to a national forum to get a bit of national uniformity on this particular matter. Also under current taxi camera specifications, when the driver activates the duress alarm which notifies the centralised booking service of a security incident, the camera system then overwrites the existing memory with continuous recording to ensure the incident is recorded in full. This specification would be removed if the one minute recording was mandated.

The issue of improving GPS tracking systems is being considered by the Taxi Council of South Australia at present, with a view to delivering a range of benefits, in addition to the safety issues addressed in the bill. Chief among these is linking the GPS system with a dispatch system and also using it to provide GPS direction for drivers. Additionally, recent regulatory changes have mandated the use of PINs which allow the clear identification of drivers with vehicles and specific locations. Again, it is an issue for the police in terms of the police knowing on what day, time and location an incident has occurred but also having a great deal of difficulty in identifying the taxi and the driver responsible.

In closing, changes are clearly afoot within the local industry through the Taxi Council of South Australia and at the national level through the Australian Passenger Transport Group that will deliver a set of outcomes clearly superior to those enunciated within this bill. For that reason, we oppose the bill.

Mr HANNA (Mitchell) (11:08): I have listened carefully to the contributions that have been made. I think everyone is concerned about safety for taxi passengers and taxi drivers. Clearly, the measures I have brought forward contribute to additional safety for passengers and drivers. The government response is encouraging but it does not really do away with the need for taking action now to improve passenger safety. It is good to know discussions are taking place at national level, but I am afraid that it is often an excuse made by this state Labor government that there have to be national discussions. Why on earth do we need uniform taxi safety measures across the whole of Australia? If we can do it better than Victoria or New South Wales, why don't we go ahead and do it? That is what I am asking this House of Assembly to move towards today.

As far as GPS is concerned, it is dead easy to link the GPS tracking to the booking service. A company is already doing it; I think it is called Smart Move. It is a brilliant system whereby they can track the time, speed and bookings of every taxi on the road and track them in real time if need be. So, the technology is there. It is taking too long to get action, and passing this legislation today will prompt some more action sooner, even if ultimately there will be more broad-ranging measures put in place.

Second reading negatived.

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