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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2010-06-30 Daily Xml
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Adjournment Debate

SPEED LIMITS

Mr VENNING (Schubert) (16:48): I will use the 10 minutes I have in the adjournment debate to fill out the government's time to say that it is short-changing the people of South Australia. I rise to speak about a very serious issue: the speed limit of 100 kilometres past St Jakobi Lyndoch Lutheran School, located between Lyndoch and Williamstown on the Lyndoch Valley Road. This is a very successful and popular school, with an increasing student enrolment. There is a major building work program underway right now, I presume by the federal government's Building Education Revolution (BER) scheme, so it does attract my attention very much. Yesterday we opened a similar facility at Tanunda Lutheran Primary School, and Senator Dana Wortley and the member for Light, Mr Piccolo, representing the minister were there.

In relation to this school, I have a lot of support for it. This matter was first brought to my attention in August last year by the principal, who understandably had serious safety concerns about having such a high speed limit past their school. A childcare centre is also located next to the school, so there are often a lot of toddlers, preschool and primary school-aged children in that vicinity. I wrote the Minister for Road Safety about the issue and received a response in October last year which stated:

The Department of Transport, Energy and Infrastructure (DTEI) has advised me that due to the rural nature of Lyndoch Valley Road between Lyndoch and Williamstown the 100km/h general rural speed limit applies.

DTEI considers that the site is operating satisfactorily and the introduction of a pedestrian actuated (push button) crossing and a lower speed limit during school hours is not supported at this time.

I have since been contacted by a number of parents of children who attend the school, and they remain concerned about the safety implications of having a 100 km/h speed zone on the road directly in front of the school, despite the minister's response inferring that the high speed limit is not a problem.

I have visited the school, some time ago, and last week I stopped my car and sat there for a quarter of an hour or so. I parked my car and watched the traffic zooming past when the children were coming out of school at half past 3, quarter to 4, and it is dangerous. People were playing Russian roulette with their children, trying to get them across the road to where their cars were parked. These parents have now taken the initiative of contacting landholders in the area to see whether they would permit signs being erected on their property urging motorists to slow down. The response they have received has been positive and the police have given their approval, providing the signs are different from council and government signs.

The situation would not occur in other states or territories. In New South Wales a 40 km/h speed zone operates at all school sites on gazetted school days. In Victoria the school speed limit applies outside every school. Some schools have a fixed limit of 40 km/h and time-based limits are also used, reducing higher limited roads to either 40 km/h or 60 km/h. Queensland has varying speed limits in school zones (based on the speed limit in place) which are implemented in both the mornings and afternoons when children are likely to be in the vicinity. In Western Australia it is 40 km/h on school days between 7.30am to 9am and 2.30pm to 4.30pm—and that sounds like a good idea. In Tasmania a 40 km/h limit is in place in all school zones. In the ACT a 40 km/h speed limit applies in designated streets in school zones. In the Northern Territory 40 km/h school zone speed limits are in force from 7am to 5pm on school days.

If this school was located on a 100 kilometre road in any other state or territory a reduced speed limit would apply. In most states it would be 40 km/h, in Victoria it would be either 40 km/h or 60 km/h and in Queensland it would reduce to either 60 km/h or 80 km/h, depending on the amount of pedestrian activity. I cannot see any reason why we cannot put time limits on this to activate the lights during school hours (so people can slow down to 60 km/h) and when they are switched off revert back to the old speed limit. I have no problem at all with that. Why can't we do it? Clearly, we are lagging behind every other state and territory in relation to the importance we place on keeping our children safe when travelling to and from school.

I believe that the current situation at St Jakobi is an accident waiting to happen. I do not want to put it on the record and then have to come back and say, 'I told you so.' That would be the saddest thing. Will it take a fatal accident involving a child for the Rann Labor government to alter the speed limit? It seems fairly basic to me. The school has been trying for many years without success to have the speed limit reduced. I urge the Rann government and the department to reassess their position and reduce the speed limit in this case before a child is seriously injured or even worse. I will be contacting the minister again to reiterate my request and that of the school community to reduce the current 100 km/h speed limit past St Jakobi Lutheran School.

I want to change the subject. I note today is the last day of the South Australian Barley Marketing Act. I believe it is a sad day because it has served us very well in South Australia. I know that several members here would understand why the Barley Marketing Act was put in place. This came after the old wheat stabilisation—and the member for Mount Gambier would remember it. These issues were put in place to protect farmers against scurrilous traders who have a lot more information than they do. Well, the wheat stabilisation plan enabled us to get a realistic price across Australia. It put a floor in the market and then we went on to the Barley Marketing Act here in South Australia because we grow more barley than any other state.

It has worked very well, but it falls off the Notice Paper today because the Barley Marketing Act had a ceiling in it of 30 June—which is today. Tomorrow we do not have a Barley Marketing Act. We had it for many years—probably 30 years—and it has served us extremely well. The old Australian Barley Board and people such as Herb Petras, who the member for Hammond would know well, are legends. These guys are great farm leaders who have served us extremely well and who have given us orderly marketing. One of the reasons our farms have done so well and are in a position to take on pretty tough times now is that, in the past, and through the boards, such as the ABB and others operating under the Barley Marketing Act, they were able to secure a reasonable future.

I am very sad to see this go. What has happened with this Barley Marketing Act—and not everyone would agree—is that we also had the single desk for grain sales. The members in here all knew. None of the members in the chamber at the moment were here at the time except the Hon. Steph Key. I fought hard. Myself and five members on this side of the house fought hard to keep the single desk, in other words, orderly marketing for grain growers and orderly marketing for the industry. I am pretty upset to see that gone. That has gone, too. We really do have a fully deregulated system, and now we see the results. It has taken us one year to see the results of what we have done.

We have gone back to the old days. The members here are not old enough to remember the times when our fathers were just price takers against traders who knew more than they did, and they would keep driving the price down. Again, I declare my interest as a barley and wheat grower. Also, my brother happens to be a director of Viterra. I find that a difficult conflict for me to handle because it does somewhat gag me. You have no control over what a member of your family does. He got that job purely on the amalgamation of Viterra and ABB.

I am very concerned that our system in South Australia is still three quarters full. We look like having another bumper harvest, and our system is going to be three quarters full. All I can say, as I have told my sons, is: 'Get out and buy some silos and buy them quick.'

Mr Pederick: There are plenty out there, the silo makers are saying.

Mr VENNING: Well, I pay credit to Ahrens Ltd who make the best silos. I will give them a commercial plug because they have donated a silo to every country football club in the state. What a fantastic—

Mr Pederick: And some in Victoria—120.

Mr VENNING: They have donated 120 of them to every football club and some even in Victoria. These things would be valued between $5,000 and $6,000 each.

Mr Pederick: It would be $6,000 plus.

Mr VENNING: They are $6,000. It is a great product. I will try to buy at least one of them because I think it is a great gesture by Ahrens, particularly Bob, the owner, and Stefan, the son and manager. I say, 'Well done, you two. You're certainly doing a great thing for country sport and for farmers in general.' All I can say to the farmers is that they have got to get out there and buy some storage, because, as a result of what we have done, the system is still full of grain. Viterra, I think, is trying to drive the price down a notch. It is active enough in the marketplace and we now see this impasse. Ships are coming and they are not being loaded here, they are going to Western Australia.

There are huge penalties to be paid for these ships coming and not being filled, so someone is paying these bills, too. We have got these inefficiencies because we have deregulated. I know that the member for Hammond and others will not agree with me, but all I can say is that we will see what happens. I am very concerned because we need to clear the grain out of the system so that we have some space to put this bumper crop that, hopefully, we are going to have this year. I am lucky because our farm is in an early district and we can get our grain in. I feel sorry for those farmers on the West Coast in the later districts when the system will be full and the grain is too good to put on the ground.

Time expired.

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