Page 771 - Week 03 - Tuesday, 12 March 1991
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Perhaps, if members of the Alliance are not sure what the problems are, they can get out there themselves or have other people go out there and look at some of the things that are happening. First of all, they could make sure that there are enough children crossing in any one area - otherwise we would do it all over Canberra. Secondly, do not suggest to children that they have a haven in the middle of streets when that is not the case. Thirdly, let us get back to the good old system whereby we have marked pedestrian foot crossings, flags, et cetera.
MR DUBY (Minister for Finance and Urban Services) (8.15): Mr Speaker, to my way of thinking, this is an unusual matter of public importance that Mr Stevenson has raised today. But I think I might be safe in saying that at least one positive result will come out of it; and that is that perhaps at long last the ongoing question of exactly where Mr Stevenson resides will be sorted out. I believe that during his speech Mr Stevenson mentioned Blackwood Terrace and Dixon Drive not once but something like four or five times. Clearly that location is of prime importance to him.
However, as I said, frankly, I am a little bit mystified as to what Mr Stevenson is trying to get at in relation to this supposed matter of public importance. Mr Stevenson referred to people supposedly responding to "our survey" - whomever "our" refers to - and said "It has been brought to our attention". I think the problem we are facing here is that many people are treating themselves as instant experts on the whole issue of traffic safety and traffic management, and particularly on care for the safety of children attending schools.
To be perfectly honest, the excellent management that we have demonstrated here in Canberra in respect of Canberra's traffic system is best reflected in the road safety statistics for the ACT. They are something that all of us here can feel very proud of. The ACT has the best road accident statistics of any State or Territory in Australia. Fatalities on the roads here in the ACT per 100,000 of population are 11.7, compared with an Australia-wide average of 17.4. The figure for fatalities per 10,000 vehicles in the ACT is 2.3, compared with a figure of 3.0 Australia-wide. That, I think, is an excellent safety record. Once again, I think it is a direct reflection of the work that has been carried out, first of all, in the past by the National Capital Development Commission and, since self-government, by my Department of Urban Services. Those figures indicate - I think quite capably - that the record that we have in the ACT is something that we can be very proud of and something we should work very hard to preserve.
If you look at the innovations that the ACT has brought to road management and pedestrian management here in Canberra, I think you will see that on a number of issues we have led
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