❓ Opposition asks about the status of the long-promised tow truck industry reform bill, citing links to outlaw motorcycle gangs and unethical behaviour. The Minister responds by highlighting actions taken by the current government and criticising the previous government's inaction.
AnsweredQoN 821Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
TOW TRUCK INDUSTRY — REFORM BILL
821. Mr R.S. LOVE to the Minister for Transport:
The minister is back, alive and
well, following her recent exposure.
I
refer to the recent crackdown on the tow truck industry by the Western Australia
Police Force, which has highlighted strong links between some operators
and outlaw motorcycle gangs.
(1) Given that
the presence of these links is not new information to the government and Western
Australian drivers are constantly falling victim to unethical behaviour by
members of the industry, what is the status of the long-promised reform bill?
(2) After nearly
seven years of Labor, why are motorists still waiting for these long-promised
reforms?
821. Mr R.S. LOVE to the Minister for Transport:
The minister is back, alive and
well, following her recent exposure.
I
refer to the recent crackdown on the tow truck industry by the Western Australia
Police Force, which has highlighted strong links between some operators
and outlaw motorcycle gangs.
(1) Given that
the presence of these links is not new information to the government and Western
Australian drivers are constantly falling victim to unethical behaviour by
members of the industry, what is the status of the long-promised reform bill?
(2) After nearly
seven years of Labor, why are motorists still waiting for these long-promised
reforms?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the Leader of the
Opposition for that question.
(1)–(2) Of
course, it is a policy area that the assistant minister is leading now, but let
us go through what we have been doing. First of all, the member's
government was in power for eight and a half years and it never touched the
issue. Wheel clamping was everywhere. Do members remember that? Innocent people
would come back and their wheels would be
clamped and they would have to pay thousands of dollars to get their vehicle unclamped. What did we do? We came in and we removed the ability to
clamp vehicles. That has changed. That is done. Of course, as a result, we do
not have those situations anymore.
We
understand and understood that the tow truck industry is an area that needs
regulation and reform. That is why we sought to do that. The reforms are
in two parts. Reforms have already taken place in relation to, first of all, requiring a better system of
regulation for vehicles and drivers and also in relation to transport costs. Now the tow truck driver will have to show how much the cost will be
before the agreement is made to tow the
vehicle. An education program has also commenced to inform drivers about their
rights in confronting the situation in which they need a tow truck.
There is also legislation that we need to change, and that work is well
underway under the new minister.
We have always said that this is an
area that we want to work on, and I am glad that the police are involved and
are undertaking their own operations. If something is happening that is
illegal, the police should be involved. I congratulate the police for being
involved. This is another area that we want to clean up, and that is what we
are doing. The member was there for eight and a half years. His government did
nothing—zero, zero, zero. When we compare what we have done in banning
wheel clamping, bringing in reforms to the tow truck industry and undertaking
further reforms, and working with police to have a crackdown, we can see that we are doing more. Of course, the
Attorney General is cracking down on bikies across the state. No
government has done more to crack down on illegal activity undertaken by bikie
gangs in this state than this government.
We will continue to work very hard.
As I said, when we look at what we have already done compared with what the
previous government did, we can see that there has been a 100 per cent
increase, and there is more to be done. We are drafting legislation to include
a new regulatory authority. We will also create new regulations in particular to cap fees to make sure that people are
not vulnerable to not only the transport cost, but also the storage
cost, which we know has been a bit of a hidden cost. It also impacts insurance,
and insurance companies are very keen to continue to work with us.
Opposition for that question.
(1)–(2) Of
course, it is a policy area that the assistant minister is leading now, but let
us go through what we have been doing. First of all, the member's
government was in power for eight and a half years and it never touched the
issue. Wheel clamping was everywhere. Do members remember that? Innocent people
would come back and their wheels would be
clamped and they would have to pay thousands of dollars to get their vehicle unclamped. What did we do? We came in and we removed the ability to
clamp vehicles. That has changed. That is done. Of course, as a result, we do
not have those situations anymore.
We
understand and understood that the tow truck industry is an area that needs
regulation and reform. That is why we sought to do that. The reforms are
in two parts. Reforms have already taken place in relation to, first of all, requiring a better system of
regulation for vehicles and drivers and also in relation to transport costs. Now the tow truck driver will have to show how much the cost will be
before the agreement is made to tow the
vehicle. An education program has also commenced to inform drivers about their
rights in confronting the situation in which they need a tow truck.
There is also legislation that we need to change, and that work is well
underway under the new minister.
We have always said that this is an
area that we want to work on, and I am glad that the police are involved and
are undertaking their own operations. If something is happening that is
illegal, the police should be involved. I congratulate the police for being
involved. This is another area that we want to clean up, and that is what we
are doing. The member was there for eight and a half years. His government did
nothing—zero, zero, zero. When we compare what we have done in banning
wheel clamping, bringing in reforms to the tow truck industry and undertaking
further reforms, and working with police to have a crackdown, we can see that we are doing more. Of course, the
Attorney General is cracking down on bikies across the state. No
government has done more to crack down on illegal activity undertaken by bikie
gangs in this state than this government.
We will continue to work very hard.
As I said, when we look at what we have already done compared with what the
previous government did, we can see that there has been a 100 per cent
increase, and there is more to be done. We are drafting legislation to include
a new regulatory authority. We will also create new regulations in particular to cap fees to make sure that people are
not vulnerable to not only the transport cost, but also the storage
cost, which we know has been a bit of a hidden cost. It also impacts insurance,
and insurance companies are very keen to continue to work with us.
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