❓ Mrs. Roberts questions the Minister for Police regarding the government's decision to override the Road Safety Council's expenditure recommendations for drink-driving education and increased police resources. The Minister responds by citing ongoing reviews of the road trauma trust account's governance and media strategy, emphasizing a commitment to reducing road trauma and implementing alcohol interlock systems.
AnsweredQoN 112Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
ROAD
SAFETY COUNCIL — EXPENDITURE RECOMMENDATIONS
112. Mrs M.H. ROBERTS to the
Minister for Police:
My question concerns road safety. I note that the independent
Road Safety Council recommended the expenditure of $2 385 000 in 2013–14
for, and I quote, ''drink-driving community education''.
(1) Why did
the minister's government override the independent Road Safety Council
and not allocate a single cent from the road trauma trust account money for
drink-driver education?
(2) Why did
the minister also override the Road Safety Council's recommendation to
give police more than $9.7 million to increase breath and drug testing and
provide $6 million less than what the Road Safety Council recommended?
(3) Did the
minister also deny the $68 000 that the Road Safety Council recommended be
given to the Drug and Alcohol Office for drug-driving community education and
the $100 000 recommended by the independent Road Safety Council for the Office
of Road Safety's repeat drink-driving strategy implementation?
SAFETY COUNCIL — EXPENDITURE RECOMMENDATIONS
112. Mrs M.H. ROBERTS to the
Minister for Police:
My question concerns road safety. I note that the independent
Road Safety Council recommended the expenditure of $2 385 000 in 2013–14
for, and I quote, ''drink-driving community education''.
(1) Why did
the minister's government override the independent Road Safety Council
and not allocate a single cent from the road trauma trust account money for
drink-driver education?
(2) Why did
the minister also override the Road Safety Council's recommendation to
give police more than $9.7 million to increase breath and drug testing and
provide $6 million less than what the Road Safety Council recommended?
(3) Did the
minister also deny the $68 000 that the Road Safety Council recommended be
given to the Drug and Alcohol Office for drug-driving community education and
the $100 000 recommended by the independent Road Safety Council for the Office
of Road Safety's repeat drink-driving strategy implementation?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(3)
I thank the member for her question on road safety because I do welcome
discussion in the road safety space. With respect to the recommendations from
the Road Safety Council to me as minister and to the Ministerial Council on
Road Safety about the expenditure from the road trauma trust account, this
account gets 100 per cent of the fines and penalties from the red-light and
speed camera operations, which go into an account to be used for road safety
measures. This, I might add, is one of the best things this government has ever
done.
Mrs M.H. Roberts :
You're not spending the money, though.
The SPEAKER :
Member for Midland, I call you to order for the second time.
Mrs L.M. HARVEY : I
would like to put on the record that the Road Safety Council does make a
recommendation about expenditure but it is then up to the government to choose
to take that recommendation or not.
I initiated a review into the governance structure of the
road trauma trust account because now that we have 100 per cent hypothecation
of revenue from fines and penalties into the fund, the value of that
expenditure has gone from $11 million up to about $90 million. I felt that we
needed to have a look at the governance structure to ensure that the spend was
going to be consistent with us achieving the outcomes of the Towards Zero
strategy that the government adopted in 2009.
Running parallel to that, I also initiated a review into the
media and marketing expenditure of the road trauma trust account and the Office
of Road Safety on the education campaigns for road safety that we put into the
community. Part of my reason for doing that is that I noticed that the
strategies did not always necessarily align with us achieving the outcomes of
the Towards Zero strategy. What I wanted to see was that our marketing scheme
and our education campaigns could be directly translated to a reduction in
fatalities and serious injury crashes in Western Australia. That is our
priority; we want to reduce road trauma.
These two reviews are nearly complete and I hope to be in a
position sometime in the near future to discuss the outcomes of the review of
the governance structure and the review of the media strategy. At that point,
we will have a look at the allocation of expenditure for all these programs,
consistent with what those reviews recommend.
I also put on the record that this government is committed to
its repeat drink-driver strategy and in the very near future I will be bringing
to this Parliament legislation and regulations that will bring alcohol
interlock systems into the repeat drink-driver strategy. That will be funded
from the road trauma trust account and will target the 4 300 or so recidivist
drink-drivers and will ensure that an interlock device is fitted to their
vehicles to stop them from driving and causing risk to other road users.
I thank the member for her question on road safety because I do welcome
discussion in the road safety space. With respect to the recommendations from
the Road Safety Council to me as minister and to the Ministerial Council on
Road Safety about the expenditure from the road trauma trust account, this
account gets 100 per cent of the fines and penalties from the red-light and
speed camera operations, which go into an account to be used for road safety
measures. This, I might add, is one of the best things this government has ever
done.
Mrs M.H. Roberts :
You're not spending the money, though.
The SPEAKER :
Member for Midland, I call you to order for the second time.
Mrs L.M. HARVEY : I
would like to put on the record that the Road Safety Council does make a
recommendation about expenditure but it is then up to the government to choose
to take that recommendation or not.
I initiated a review into the governance structure of the
road trauma trust account because now that we have 100 per cent hypothecation
of revenue from fines and penalties into the fund, the value of that
expenditure has gone from $11 million up to about $90 million. I felt that we
needed to have a look at the governance structure to ensure that the spend was
going to be consistent with us achieving the outcomes of the Towards Zero
strategy that the government adopted in 2009.
Running parallel to that, I also initiated a review into the
media and marketing expenditure of the road trauma trust account and the Office
of Road Safety on the education campaigns for road safety that we put into the
community. Part of my reason for doing that is that I noticed that the
strategies did not always necessarily align with us achieving the outcomes of
the Towards Zero strategy. What I wanted to see was that our marketing scheme
and our education campaigns could be directly translated to a reduction in
fatalities and serious injury crashes in Western Australia. That is our
priority; we want to reduce road trauma.
These two reviews are nearly complete and I hope to be in a
position sometime in the near future to discuss the outcomes of the review of
the governance structure and the review of the media strategy. At that point,
we will have a look at the allocation of expenditure for all these programs,
consistent with what those reviews recommend.
I also put on the record that this government is committed to
its repeat drink-driver strategy and in the very near future I will be bringing
to this Parliament legislation and regulations that will bring alcohol
interlock systems into the repeat drink-driver strategy. That will be funded
from the road trauma trust account and will target the 4 300 or so recidivist
drink-drivers and will ensure that an interlock device is fitted to their
vehicles to stop them from driving and causing risk to other road users.
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