Page 5438 - Week 17 - Tuesday, 3 December 1991
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At the same time, I recognise that there has been a reduction in the number of third-party insurance claims as far as motorbikes are concerned. I think that this is a very positive aspect to motorcycle riding. I think that people are simply getting more responsible in the way they ride motorbikes, particularly in the way they ride large motorbikes.
The point I am making is that the fee, as it is levied at the moment, I believe, is inequitable. Therefore I will vote in support of the disallowance motion that Mr Stefaniak has moved. At the same time, I believe that when the Minister looks at this again and puts in the new rates those charges ought be spread across all motorbikes. It ought not focus simply on large motorbikes. I think that is a much fairer and more equitable way to do it.
It is very interesting to me to watch the turnaround that people have done on this issue. Mr Duby so far is the only member of the Alliance who obviously originally supported doing this very thing - - -
Mrs Nolan: The Executive.
MR MOORE: The Executive of the Alliance supported this very thing and now - apart from Mr Duby - have turned around, perhaps just to gain a few votes. I think it is time they really considered the issues at hand rather than just whether or not you pick up a few votes, because it is a much more important way to deal with it.
Mr Duby: There are no votes in it. None of the owners are on the roll anyway.
MR MOORE: It is refreshing to listen to Mr Duby speak about the issues rather than just dealing with the votes on this particular issue anyway. Mr Speaker, with that in mind, I indicate quite clearly that I will support Mr Stefaniak's motion of disallowance. At the same time, I encourage the Minister to come back to the Assembly with a gazettal which spreads that fee right across all sizes of motorbikes.
MR COLLAERY (5.53): I think, as a member of that Alliance Cabinet, I should stand up and face the music, and I am not afraid to. Members heard Mr Duby argue this case, and I can assure you, without revealing Cabinet confidences, that he was always equally persuasive in Cabinet on these issues. Members should recall that these charges form part of a three-centimetre thick annual decision by government to levy, change, alter, impose charges. I can recall at that time being quite interested in the revised charges for burial plots out at the cemetery. I remember asking Mr Duby why the charges for burying a baby only so many feet deep had been doubled or tripled or something. There probably were hundreds and hundreds of charges that the Government was reviewing.
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