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Legislative Council - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2009-04-08 Daily Xml
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POLICE ROAD SAFETY POLICY

The Hon. S.G. WADE (14:36): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Urban Development and Planning, representing the Minister for Police—

The Hon. B.V. Finnigan interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! I remind the opposition and the government that they will have fewer questions today, and perhaps those showing tolerance to the chair, such as the Independents, will get more questions.

Leave granted.

The Hon. S.G. WADE: Yesterday on Adelaidenow Joanna Vaughan reported the road safety minister's revelation that South Australia Police have been pulling over motorists to tell them that they have been doing a good job.

The Hon. G.E. Gago: Hear, hear!

The Hon. S.G. WADE: I hear the Minister for the Status of Women saying 'Hear, hear' to that proposal—apparently she supports the minister. In response to the article, the Adelaidenow site carried numerous comments of denial by serving members of the South Australian police, including one which stated:

I am a serving police officer. In my seven years on the job I have never seen or heard of this being done. On the road policing, the kind of officers that stop you for committing traffic offences, is the most demanding, difficult and under-appreciated role in the job. Knee-jerk reactions and off-the-handle comments are heard by many serving police officers at a time when morale is at an all time low and demands on these officers are increasing. Misinformed comments like this, setting members of the public against the serving members, is not something our minister should be doing.

Another correspondent said that he understands that the Canberra police tried a similar initiative some years ago, but soon stopped after one particular incident where a driver was pulled over to be complimented on their driving. The driver became so irritated at being stopped that they ended up being physical with the officer, which resulted in the driver seriously assaulting the officer and ending up in gaol. In the poll, only one of the four respondents welcomed the initiative. My questions to the minister are:

1. Under what legislation are police empowered to require a member of the public to pull over to convey a commendation?

2. When was this practice introduced and what policy was promulgated to introduce the practice?

3. How many people have been pulled over under this policy?

4. Why was the policy not made public until yesterday?

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY (Minister for Mineral Resources Development, Minister for Urban Development and Planning, Minister for Small Business) (14:39): This is not bad for a shadow minister for road safety, whose Facebook friend takes pictures of himself doing 130km/h in his car. This is the Liberal standard for road safety, so I am not surprised that the shadow spokesperson should try to bring—

The Hon. S.G. Wade: Undermine the police—go on!

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY: I am not happy with people doing 130km/h down the road while taking pictures of themselves.

The Hon. S.G. Wade interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY: What have you said about your Liberal friend? When the shadow spokesperson for road safety gets up and condemns his Facebook friend for doing 130 km/h in a car and photographing himself, then he may have some credibility to ask questions in relation to police powers.

In relation to police powers, I will refer that to the Minister for Police in another place. However, I think it is quite extraordinary, but perhaps not surprising, that the shadow minister for road safety should be trying to draw a distraction from the very embarrassing situation that he must find himself in when his Liberal colleague (speeding friend) takes pictures of himself doing 130 km/h.

The Hon. T.J. Stephens interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

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