Page 4169 - Week 14 - Wednesday, 23 October 1991
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How much are we really talking about here? Is it really $40m, $50m or $60m? As I understand it, half the amount is to be regarded as a cushion against future claims, as a result of which there will be no increase, in the immediate future, in NRMA premiums. I think we can be grateful for that. Everybody here, I am sure, is a payer of premiums to the NRMA. I congratulate the NRMA for having a surplus which can be returned to us in this way; that is, the basic amount of $140 per annum will therefore remain for some time to come. We should all be pleased about that.
But this leaves an amount at present not fully and finally specified - unless the Government can inform us of this - of at least $10m. Let us hope that the Government will negotiate strongly to make it more than that. As I understand it, from a statement by Mr Connolly - which was helpful, I thought - there will be some kind of trust fund with trustees, and out of that trust fund will come payments of various kinds for various projects. I would like to concentrate on these projects. May I therefore say to the Government that I am looking on this MPI as a chance for me to consult with the Government, and to suggest to the Government what some of those projects could be.
I would like to stress projects related to that scourge of the roads and of safe driving - alcohol. I would like to focus on that particular problem. I recognise that there are other ones. One could also talk about the problem of drugs. I understand from the NRMA that the police breathalyser program has been especially helpful in bringing us down from one per 100 to 0.5 per 100, and there have been strong publicity campaigns along such lines as "Drink, but don't drive". I recognise that that is too simplistic, and that the improvement in our accident rates is a very complex thing; but I am particularly picking out this area of alcohol.
So, given that that is the case, I would like to urge projects of this kind. For example, there is the possibility of the lessening of grief and bereavement counselling in the ACT. I would like to see expanded specialist grief and bereavement counselling, and that would seem to me to be one area where we could use funds that have come from the NRMA. I recognise that that is a relatively small matter. I also hope that from these funds will come expanded after hours emergency services related to road accidents.
I am very glad to see one suggestion from the NRMA related to a child protection program for the education of the community. I understand that these programs are stronger in some places than in others. I welcome the thought of the possibility of a special education program for children in Tuggeranong. These programs exist elsewhere, but I
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