Page 4936 - Week 12 - Tuesday, 25 October 2011
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road injuries and fatalities compared to other motor vehicles. This should concern us all. Regardless of fault, riders are much more vulnerable in a crash than car drivers. Motorcycle and scooter riders who are aware of this risk will ride smart, using road craft and wearing protective clothing—boots, helmets and gloves. Nevertheless, it would be better for all of us if crashes never happened.
We can all contribute to reducing crashes, whether we drive a car or ride a motorcycle, simply by being more alert and careful. We all have a responsibility to share the road. Being more aware of other road users is a good step towards that. On Saturday I launched the Joe Rider motorcycle road safety program. It is a simple program and very clever. Drivers are encouraged to look out for a rider called Joe and, by inference, to see all motorcyclists. Joe wears a bright orange vest printed with “Joe” in large letters. If you see Joe, you can register on the Motorcycle Riders Association website for a chance to win a balloon flight over Canberra—an added incentive to watch out for bike riders.
Look out for Joe for the rest of this week. If you can see Joe, you can see a motorcyclist. Drivers learning to see motorcyclists and scooters is the key message for Motorcycle Awareness Week 2011.
Motorcycle Awareness Week
Korean Veterans Remembrance Day
Sacred Heart primary school
St Francis of Assisi primary school
MR SESELJA (Molonglo—Leader of the Opposition) (5.35): I would also like to pay tribute to Peter Major and all of the other people who helped put together the launch of Motorcycle Awareness Week. It was a great opportunity for me. Steve Robson was the lucky person who got to keep me safe on a bike, and I am very grateful to him. As usual, there were a number of motorcycle organisations represented there, including Ulysses, the CanberraRIDERS and the Vietnam Veterans Motorcycle Club. So I would like to pay tribute to all of those for the wonderful work they do and the wonderful welcome they always give us.
I would like to also speak about the Korean Veterans Remembrance Day service which I attended recently and which was held by the Korea and South East Asia Forces Association of Australia. I would like to pay tribute particularly to Mrs Christine Coulthard OAM, the ACT state president of the Korea and South East Asia Forces Association of Australia. We had a commemorative address from Mr Wahn-Seong Jeong, minister of the Embassy of the Republic of Korea, and Air Marshal Mark Binskin AO, Vice Chief of the Defence Force.
Also I would like to thank Chaplain Catie Inches-Ogden, senior chaplain at the Army headquarters, Australia’s Federation Guard, the Korean Ladies Choir and Mr Graeme Hush. In the three years of fighting, 1,263 men of the commonwealth forces were killed and a further 4,817 were wounded. And we pay tribute to them for their service to our nation.
I would like to also pay tribute to Sacred Heart primary school. I had the opportunity recently to attend an opening there of the new multipurpose hall and library. This was
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