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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, First Session (54-1)
2018-06-20 Daily Xml
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Road Traffic (Drug Testing) Amendment Bill

Second Reading

Adjourned debate on second reading.

(Continued from 6 June 2018.)

Mr TEAGUE (Heysen) (10:53): I rise to speak in relation to the bill. I am mindful of the remarks of the Attorney in recent days. I will make some brief remarks now, the upshot of which is that the government is going about an orderly process of considering reform in relation to the Road Traffic Act with a view to comprehensive, rather than piecemeal, reform. It will do so in line with the nature and character of this new Marshall Liberal government—in an orderly, timely and comprehensive way.

Anyone under the influence of drugs has no place on our roads. Police already have powers to get individuals who are driving under the influence of drugs. Police have powers to stop drug driving to ensure other road users are kept safe. Police officers already have a series of powers, and they include the power to issue an immediate suspension or disqualification of a driver's licence in order to ensure an offender or suspected offender is immediately off the road.

Police further have power to impound a vehicle, and the power is there for practical purposes, to ensure that a vehicle is off the road and to prevent it from being driven again. Importantly, police further have power to direct a driver of a vehicle to undertake a drug test, and if a person fails to do so, that constitutes an offence. This power exists to make sure that suspects do not try to avoid drug tests.

Further, a power exists to direct a driver of a vehicle to provide their name, date of birth, address and business address, and if they fail or refuse to do that, that also constitutes an offence. There is a range of further powers. It is not my objective to list them all categorically but to make the point that these powers exist to keep our community and our roads safe. We on this side of the house will continue to back our police to keep our roads and all South Australians safe.

As I noted at the outset, the new Marshall Liberal government is looking to reform the Road Traffic Act with comprehensive rather than piecemeal reform, which is the subject of this bill. The current bill from the opposition, as honourable members would be aware, had its genesis in a bill that did not pass the parliament while they were in government. The Marshall Liberal government is commencing a review into the Road Traffic Act generally. As part of that review and typical of our approach, I might say, in relation to reform generally, we are going about the process of engaging stakeholders.

The government is also looking into establishing a working group to consider these areas of reform. There is no time limit for this government proposal. We are looking at the matter carefully, seriously and diligently, and we are consulting about a number of matters in particular. They include, first, the matter of relevant forensic procedures for when police undertake a roadside drug test; secondly, the on-the-spot measures that are available to reduce red tape and increase efficiency; and thirdly, other amendments that may be desirable in that space.

In conclusion, the government will come back to the house in due course with its own bill, and it will do so once that consultation process is concluded and comprehensive measures, the subject of that new government legislation, are ready to be presented to the house.

Debate adjourned on motion of Mr Pederick.

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