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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2011-10-20 Daily Xml
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Grievance Debate

ROAD SAFETY STRATEGY

Mr GOLDSWORTHY (Kavel) (15:29): I want to make some comments concerning the Road Safety Strategy document recently released by the government. Embarrassingly for the Minister for Road Safety (Tom Kenyon) and the government, that document was leaked to the Liberal opposition before the minister's launch of the strategy, which somewhat deflated his efforts, given the media coverage that took place prior to the launch. It is a clear indication that this government is in turmoil when we see an ever-increasing volume of leaked material coming our way.

I have made these statements publicly and I will keep making them again and again, because I believe they are the facts of the matter, that is, that this strategy is flawed if it is not supported by a satisfactory level of resources and funding. It will be ineffective if those fundamentals are not provided. What we have seen coming from this strategy thus far announced by the minister is basically an increase in penalties, reduction in speed limits and further restrictions placed on our younger drivers—that is what the minister is proposing. Now, any one can do that.

It does not take much skill to increase punitive measures on the community, and I believe that has been one of the hallmarks of this government in its approach to road safety over the past ten years. It takes real skill and acumen to actually be able to go to cabinet, argue your case to seek funding and have it approved to address the $200 million backlog in road maintenance and infrastructure. It appears that the minister cannot or will not do that.

Page 5 of the minister's own strategy document specifically highlights the important fact of investments in our road network, but what do we see? We see no funding provided. The minister confirmed this in a recent radio interview, when he was asked, 'Is there any new cash in this package to improve the roads further?' to which he replied, 'There's no funding attached to it.'

There you have it: the minister is ignoring the fact that this state is in urgent need for the $200 million backlog in road maintenance to be actioned. He wants to ignore it, even though it is right there in front of him. This is in stark contrast to the opposition's position; that is where we made a commitment to address this glaring issue. We committed $50 million at the election last year, and I am confident that as we progress to the 2014 election this will be at the forefront of our road safety policy.

In relation to the minister's proposal to reduce speed limits on rural roads to 100 km/h, I want to say this: speed limits should not be reduced to compensate for the government's neglect of the maintenance of our road network; however, this appears to have occurred where some of our main roads have not been maintained to a high standard and have deteriorated to a level where motorists cannot drive safely at 110 km/h. Motorists should be able to drive at 110 km/h if our main rural roads are properly maintained and are in good condition, with safe infrastructure built.

In addition to this, the proposed changes to the graduated licensing scheme will have a severe impact on all our young people, particularly those in our rural areas. I can tell you that these proposals have caused considerable alarm in our rural and regional areas. My colleagues talk to me about the strong representations they have received from their communities.

My message to the minister is this: fix up your roads, improve the driver education and training programs in schools and during the learner drivers permit stage, and implement effective road safety advertising programs, and I think you will see a marked reduction in our road toll and serious crash injuries. Stop punishing the community due to your inability to consider and act on other road safety measures.

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