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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 14 Hansard (11 December) . . Page.. 5017 ..

MR SPEAKER: I call Mr Moore.

MR MOORE (9.11): Thank you, Mr Speaker, for your kind invitation to me to speak.

MR SPEAKER: It was not a kind invitation; it was just out of sheer boredom.

MR MOORE: Mr Speaker, allow me to entertain you. We are debating two determinations this evening. One was tabled today and the other was tabled last week, on 2 December. Mr Whitecross has moved for disallowance of the latter one. The one tabled today, which is empowered by the one in respect of which Mr Whitecross has moved his motion, is about the declaration of the holiday period. This evening we are talking primarily about Subordinate Law No. 26 of 1997, the one gazetted on 2 October and tabled on 2 December.

The doubling of demerit points, on the face of it, provides significant advantages. When I put on my population and health hat and look at this, I say to myself, "In taking this action what is the Minister trying to do?". I can see the side of the argument that says that he is trying to reduce fatalities; that he is trying to reduce the number of accidents and to protect our citizens. I think there is some merit in that argument. However, the merit for that argument would apply right across the system at any given time. If doubling demerit points does provide a disincentive, then why do we not double demerit points right across the system all the time?

Mr Osborne: Because holidays have a high accident rate.

MR MOORE: Mr Osborne interjects that holidays have a high accident rate and therefore we want to be seen to be making an effective response to that. We do not know whether or not it is an effective response because it has been operating for only a short while in New South Wales. Experience has taught us that the sort of shock tactics that this applies are usually effective for only a short while. The first couple of times you use them they are very effective. Then people get used to them. Used a couple of times, they may have some impact.

If we are going to use this system, we ought to decide the very best time to use it, to decide when the highest proportion of accidents is likely to occur in the ACT. We ought not to waste the system by using it at inappropriate times. The highest accident rate is normally at Easter. This system is not being applied at that time. It may well be that we are wasting it at Christmas. But we do not even know whether this system works. To test whether it works, we are going to have to look at how it operates. We know that it is operating across the border in New South Wales. Mr Osborne, from his experience as a police officer, might be able to tell us whether an ACT resident with an ACT drivers licence booked in New South Wales loses double demerit points.

Mr Osborne: Yes.

MR MOORE: That is my understanding too. We can test how well this system works. There is something else particularly interesting about the inadequate way in which these regulations were drawn up. Paragraph (a) of proposed regulation 33(1) applies double demerit points to items 106, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112 and 113 of Part II of the schedule.

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