❓ The Minister outlines the Towing Services Bill 2024, designed to regulate the WA towing industry, prevent predatory behaviour, and ensure a safer, fairer industry with price controls, safety standards, and operator authorisation.
AnsweredQoN 496Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
TOWING
SERVICES BILL 2024
496. Mr G. BAKER to the Minister Assisting the Minister for
Transport:
I refer to the Cook Labor government's
commitment to crack down on unethical and intimidatory behaviour in WA's
tow truck industry. Can the minister update the house on how the government is
delivering on reforms to provide a safe and fair towing industry by preventing
predatory behaviour towards people involved in car crashes?
SERVICES BILL 2024
496. Mr G. BAKER to the Minister Assisting the Minister for
Transport:
I refer to the Cook Labor government's
commitment to crack down on unethical and intimidatory behaviour in WA's
tow truck industry. Can the minister update the house on how the government is
delivering on reforms to provide a safe and fair towing industry by preventing
predatory behaviour towards people involved in car crashes?
AnswerView source ↗
Thank
you, Speaker, and thank you to the member for South Perth for that question.
With an electorate that has the freeway on one side, the member will be
well aware, as I am sure most members are, of some the terrible behaviour we
have seen in the crash towing industry over the last few years. Some of that
behaviour is very predatory and intimidating, and we have seen some violence
between tow truck drivers on our roads. We should not have to stand for that in
Western Australia. That is why a year or so ago the Minister for Transport and
the then Minister for Commerce, and now Premier, made an announcement that the
government would legislate to regulate the crash towing industry in Western Australia
for the first time, bringing us more in line with other states and territories.
I am very proud that this morning I got
to introduce legislation into Parliament that clearly sets out that the Cook
government will not tolerate this kind of behaviour on our roads and in that
particular industry. I know there are lots
of operators in the towing industry that do the right thing. They are small
businesses—mum-and-dad businesses that do the right thing,
whether it be a crash towing, breakdown towing or heavy vehicle towing in our
regions. I know they have had to put up with these issues as well, and that is
even more reason to regulate this industry. Unfortunately, those legitimate
operators have been previously forced to contend with some of that behaviour.
The courtesy that they show to people who are in shock after they have had a crash
and pretty vulnerable on the side of the road is not always being shown. People
are being forced, sometimes while in the back of an ambulance, to sign over
their car. Obviously in that situation, it is very difficult for people to read
the terms and conditions of those things.
The legislation will ensure a safer
and more reputable industry through the introduction of a number of reforms.
The member will be pleased to know these include price regulation to establish
a maximum charge for the towing and storage of vehicles involved in a crash
within the Perth and Peel regions. The legislation will also introduce safety
standards, like wearing hi-vis and those kinds of things, for tow truck
operators and their workers. Spotter fees will be banned. People ring up to try
to get $100 or $200, and all the tow trucks run down the emergency lane and cut
through suburbs at speed to try to get to the site. Occupational authorisation
will also be introduced. It is essentially a permit to operate for tow truck
operators, workers, companies and yards. This will mean tow truck workers will
have an ID badge that people can see to verify that they have gone through the
system and that the department believes they
are fit and proper person. That brings me to the establishment of penalties and
legal sanctions that can be applied to unscrupulous operators that might
try to get around our system. As part of this, a fit and proper person test, with police checks, will make
sure that not only the workers but also the company and the p eople who
own the company are fit and proper people. This will eliminate that organised
crime part of the industry. We will also provide the Department of Transport
with enforcement capabilities to, with the help of WA police, ensure that the
industry can be cleaned up and is fit for purpose for all Western Australian
road users. We are putting unscrupulous tow truck drivers and operators on
notice with the introduction of the Towing Services Bill 2024. This government —
Mr R.S. Love interjected.
The SPEAKER : Order, please.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Members!
Leader of the Opposition, this is not a question you asked. I will ask you not
to interject.
Mr D.R. MICHAEL : Thank you,
Speaker. I am not taking interjections from the vapid opposition.
The Cook government will not stand
for criminal elements in the industry, and the behaviour we saw is not ethical
and will not be tolerated.
you, Speaker, and thank you to the member for South Perth for that question.
With an electorate that has the freeway on one side, the member will be
well aware, as I am sure most members are, of some the terrible behaviour we
have seen in the crash towing industry over the last few years. Some of that
behaviour is very predatory and intimidating, and we have seen some violence
between tow truck drivers on our roads. We should not have to stand for that in
Western Australia. That is why a year or so ago the Minister for Transport and
the then Minister for Commerce, and now Premier, made an announcement that the
government would legislate to regulate the crash towing industry in Western Australia
for the first time, bringing us more in line with other states and territories.
I am very proud that this morning I got
to introduce legislation into Parliament that clearly sets out that the Cook
government will not tolerate this kind of behaviour on our roads and in that
particular industry. I know there are lots
of operators in the towing industry that do the right thing. They are small
businesses—mum-and-dad businesses that do the right thing,
whether it be a crash towing, breakdown towing or heavy vehicle towing in our
regions. I know they have had to put up with these issues as well, and that is
even more reason to regulate this industry. Unfortunately, those legitimate
operators have been previously forced to contend with some of that behaviour.
The courtesy that they show to people who are in shock after they have had a crash
and pretty vulnerable on the side of the road is not always being shown. People
are being forced, sometimes while in the back of an ambulance, to sign over
their car. Obviously in that situation, it is very difficult for people to read
the terms and conditions of those things.
The legislation will ensure a safer
and more reputable industry through the introduction of a number of reforms.
The member will be pleased to know these include price regulation to establish
a maximum charge for the towing and storage of vehicles involved in a crash
within the Perth and Peel regions. The legislation will also introduce safety
standards, like wearing hi-vis and those kinds of things, for tow truck
operators and their workers. Spotter fees will be banned. People ring up to try
to get $100 or $200, and all the tow trucks run down the emergency lane and cut
through suburbs at speed to try to get to the site. Occupational authorisation
will also be introduced. It is essentially a permit to operate for tow truck
operators, workers, companies and yards. This will mean tow truck workers will
have an ID badge that people can see to verify that they have gone through the
system and that the department believes they
are fit and proper person. That brings me to the establishment of penalties and
legal sanctions that can be applied to unscrupulous operators that might
try to get around our system. As part of this, a fit and proper person test, with police checks, will make
sure that not only the workers but also the company and the p eople who
own the company are fit and proper people. This will eliminate that organised
crime part of the industry. We will also provide the Department of Transport
with enforcement capabilities to, with the help of WA police, ensure that the
industry can be cleaned up and is fit for purpose for all Western Australian
road users. We are putting unscrupulous tow truck drivers and operators on
notice with the introduction of the Towing Services Bill 2024. This government —
Mr R.S. Love interjected.
The SPEAKER : Order, please.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Members!
Leader of the Opposition, this is not a question you asked. I will ask you not
to interject.
Mr D.R. MICHAEL : Thank you,
Speaker. I am not taking interjections from the vapid opposition.
The Cook government will not stand
for criminal elements in the industry, and the behaviour we saw is not ethical
and will not be tolerated.
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