Page 5817 - Week 18 - Tuesday, 10 December 1991
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I have some questions about court fines suddenly increasing from $500 to $2,000 - a fourfold increase. That hardly seems to be in line with the increase in the CPI. One cannot help wondering to what extent this is a taxation measure rather than a safety measure. I balance that comment against the fact that in the vast majority of cases people would go for expiation rather than going to court and taking that kind of risk. But it seems to me to be out of all proportion, and I would be very interested to hear the Minister's response on this.
The maximum court penalty is currently $500. Therefore, one would presume that a judge, in dealing with an offence, would consider $500 to be the maximum penalty to be imposed in the most serious of cases, say, and $250 in a medium case. With a fourfold increase, the medium offence, as the judge reads it, will fit into the $1,000 category. At a time when families are having more and more difficulty in finding money, when money is getting tighter and tighter, I really wonder whether it is necessary to go to this extreme.
That is not to say that we ought not to consider it appropriate to deal harshly with people who are exceeding the speed limit by 45 kilometres an hour in, for example, a school zone. Somebody who zooms through a school zone at 90 kilometres an hour, or something along those lines, certainly should be dealt with in the way provided for in this Bill. But there are zones in the ACT where the speed limit is 80 kilometres an hour. People speeding excessively in those zones would be doing at least 120 kilometres an hour, and they would deserve to be dealt with quite harshly too. Nevertheless, Mr Speaker, it does seem to me that this Bill imposes a rather sudden and dramatic increase in the sum. At this point I flag that I certainly have a difficulty with that.
At the same time, I accept the notion that the level of traffic infringement fines will be set by regulation in future. I think that makes a great deal of sense, particularly because we have the power of disallowance. Once any member has moved for disallowance, then the responsibility really shifts back onto the Minister to bring the matter on for debate. I think that is a satisfactory method and should make things easier in this area.
MR STEVENSON (8.14): I think it is reasonable to introduce a new offence of exceeding the speed limit by 45 kilometres an hour or more. One of the difficulties with introducing Bills and expecting their passage in a short time - this Bill was introduced on 28 November - is that there is not time to consult with the community, as I have already mentioned. Because of that, I will vote against the Bill. However, I already know that the Bill will be passed. In the past I have asked Canberrans whether they want Bills agreed to in under 30 days if they are not a genuine emergency. They do not, and this is one of the difficulties.
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