❓ The Minister outlines how the Western Australian Marine Amendment Bill 2023 will improve waterway safety by introducing stronger penalties for dangerous navigation and skippering under the influence, mirroring road laws. The Minister contrasts the current government's action with the previous government's inaction on this issue.
AnsweredQoN 939Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
WESTERN AUSTRALIAN MARINE AMENDMENT BILL 2023
939. Mrs L.A. MUNDAY to the Minister assisting the Minister
for Transport:
I
refer to the Cook Labor government's long-awaited reforms of the Western
Australian Marine Act. Can the minister please advise the house how
these reforms will help to keep people safe on our waterways this summer, and
can the minister also advise what message the reforms send to those considering
skippering a vessel under the influence of drugs or alcohol?
939. Mrs L.A. MUNDAY to the Minister assisting the Minister
for Transport:
I
refer to the Cook Labor government's long-awaited reforms of the Western
Australian Marine Act. Can the minister please advise the house how
these reforms will help to keep people safe on our waterways this summer, and
can the minister also advise what message the reforms send to those considering
skippering a vessel under the influence of drugs or alcohol?
AnswerView source ↗
I would like to thank the member
for the question. Like the good people of Dawesville, there will be lots of Western
Australians who, with the weather we have had, are probably already out on the
water and are looking forward to having fun on the water this summer. I also
acknowledge my former boss, Hon Bob Kucera, who is up there, who is a former Commodore of the Fremantle Sailing Club and,
importantly, a former Assistant Commissioner of Police, who knows the
damage that cars and vehicles and bad driving can do on our roads. I also
acknowledge the incredible work that the
water police and the Department of Transport staff do on our water to keep
people safe.
I am pleased to advise members that
earlier this week, the Western Australian Marine Amendment Bill 2023 passed the
Legislative Council. As we know from when it went through this house, the bill
provides for stronger penalties for skippers under the influence of drugs or
alcohol, as well as much stronger penalties for dangerous navigation. The Western Australian Marine Act
offences were essentially unchanged since they were first introduced in
the early 1980s and definitely did not reflect community expectations. The
changes brought in by the Western Australian Marine Amendment Bill 2023 will
see laws that mirror those in place on our roads and send a clear message that
dangerous navigation or skippering under the influence of drugs or alcohol will
not be tolerated. The enhanced financial
penalties better reflect the seriousness of the offences and for the first time
include the possibility of
imprisonment for a dangerous navigation offence. For example, the offence of
dangerous navigation will now have penalties, including fines of up to
$36 000, three years' imprisonment and two years' minimum
disqualification from holding or obtaining a recreational skipper's
ticket, compared with a previous fine of only $1 000. This is a significant
milestone in the strengthening of boating safety laws.
I
take the opportunity to thank the staff of the Department of Transport and the Western
Australia Police Force, including the relevant ministers here, as well, for
their efforts in bringing this legislation together. It was a mammoth task and
took many hours of work. I thank them. I know that the Department of
Transport has been waiting a long time to do it.
I thank this house for passing the
legislation, including the opposition. With the Leader of the Opposition, we
had our consideration in detail on this legislation. Thanks for allowing us to
pass the legislation as quickly as we were able to in both houses, to make sure
the new penalties are in place for summer. This is another example of some
great legislation this government has done with the support of the opposition,
when the former government got this completely wrong. An article from ABC News
from back in 2015 says —
WA Water Police say they have no
choice but to work within legislation which does not allow officers to breath
test skippers of boats, as they gear up for one of the state's biggest annual
boating —
Seasons. The then Minister for
Police and member for Scarborough said —
� drafting
and passing legislation, and then establishing an effective compliance regime
was an expensive process.
� in the absence of evidence that
alcohol-affected boat skippers were a significant problem, she was not planning
to make changes.
''We've had a large
high-profile crash, if you recall, a few years ago and I'm a bit
reluctant to change the entire laws of the state around one issue,'' �
The then Premier Colin Barnett —
� does not favour breath tests of
skippers on the water.
Nor does he want to see authorities
waiting at boat ramps to breathalyse boaties �
''I would much prefer to have
faith in people to be responsible on the water, particularly in charge of larger
boats, for boating organisations and yacht clubs to take a leadership role in
that,'' Mr Barnett said.
I am glad the opposition's position has changed and I
thank it for helping us to pass that legislation.
I am proud that the Cook government
has given water safety the priority it deserves. I acknowledge that most people
out there do the right thing on our waterways, but the laws were out of touch
with community expectations and these laws also build upon major changes to the
safety equipment requirements for recreational vehicles that came into effect
in September this year.
Before
I sit down, I again thank all those hardworking staff at the Department of
Transport and the Western Australia Police Force who will be out on the
water and enforcing laws. I thank all those volunteers at sailing and yacht
clubs and in marine safety and all those other organisations who will do their
job in helping us with enforcing this legislation. I thank the overwhelming
majority of Western Australians who are going to do the right thing over summer
and I hope they have great fun on the water.
for the question. Like the good people of Dawesville, there will be lots of Western
Australians who, with the weather we have had, are probably already out on the
water and are looking forward to having fun on the water this summer. I also
acknowledge my former boss, Hon Bob Kucera, who is up there, who is a former Commodore of the Fremantle Sailing Club and,
importantly, a former Assistant Commissioner of Police, who knows the
damage that cars and vehicles and bad driving can do on our roads. I also
acknowledge the incredible work that the
water police and the Department of Transport staff do on our water to keep
people safe.
I am pleased to advise members that
earlier this week, the Western Australian Marine Amendment Bill 2023 passed the
Legislative Council. As we know from when it went through this house, the bill
provides for stronger penalties for skippers under the influence of drugs or
alcohol, as well as much stronger penalties for dangerous navigation. The Western Australian Marine Act
offences were essentially unchanged since they were first introduced in
the early 1980s and definitely did not reflect community expectations. The
changes brought in by the Western Australian Marine Amendment Bill 2023 will
see laws that mirror those in place on our roads and send a clear message that
dangerous navigation or skippering under the influence of drugs or alcohol will
not be tolerated. The enhanced financial
penalties better reflect the seriousness of the offences and for the first time
include the possibility of
imprisonment for a dangerous navigation offence. For example, the offence of
dangerous navigation will now have penalties, including fines of up to
$36 000, three years' imprisonment and two years' minimum
disqualification from holding or obtaining a recreational skipper's
ticket, compared with a previous fine of only $1 000. This is a significant
milestone in the strengthening of boating safety laws.
I
take the opportunity to thank the staff of the Department of Transport and the Western
Australia Police Force, including the relevant ministers here, as well, for
their efforts in bringing this legislation together. It was a mammoth task and
took many hours of work. I thank them. I know that the Department of
Transport has been waiting a long time to do it.
I thank this house for passing the
legislation, including the opposition. With the Leader of the Opposition, we
had our consideration in detail on this legislation. Thanks for allowing us to
pass the legislation as quickly as we were able to in both houses, to make sure
the new penalties are in place for summer. This is another example of some
great legislation this government has done with the support of the opposition,
when the former government got this completely wrong. An article from ABC News
from back in 2015 says —
WA Water Police say they have no
choice but to work within legislation which does not allow officers to breath
test skippers of boats, as they gear up for one of the state's biggest annual
boating —
Seasons. The then Minister for
Police and member for Scarborough said —
� drafting
and passing legislation, and then establishing an effective compliance regime
was an expensive process.
� in the absence of evidence that
alcohol-affected boat skippers were a significant problem, she was not planning
to make changes.
''We've had a large
high-profile crash, if you recall, a few years ago and I'm a bit
reluctant to change the entire laws of the state around one issue,'' �
The then Premier Colin Barnett —
� does not favour breath tests of
skippers on the water.
Nor does he want to see authorities
waiting at boat ramps to breathalyse boaties �
''I would much prefer to have
faith in people to be responsible on the water, particularly in charge of larger
boats, for boating organisations and yacht clubs to take a leadership role in
that,'' Mr Barnett said.
I am glad the opposition's position has changed and I
thank it for helping us to pass that legislation.
I am proud that the Cook government
has given water safety the priority it deserves. I acknowledge that most people
out there do the right thing on our waterways, but the laws were out of touch
with community expectations and these laws also build upon major changes to the
safety equipment requirements for recreational vehicles that came into effect
in September this year.
Before
I sit down, I again thank all those hardworking staff at the Department of
Transport and the Western Australia Police Force who will be out on the
water and enforcing laws. I thank all those volunteers at sailing and yacht
clubs and in marine safety and all those other organisations who will do their
job in helping us with enforcing this legislation. I thank the overwhelming
majority of Western Australians who are going to do the right thing over summer
and I hope they have great fun on the water.
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