Page 584 - Week 03 - Tuesday, 19 May 1992
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
MR CONNOLLY: I think that related to lights, or wearing them at low speed. There was at one stage an exception; you did not have to wear the helmet if you travelled at below 15 kilometres per hour. That has now been outlawed and again generally accepted.
I thought of another example this evening when attending an Emergency Service exercise, namely, hard hats on construction sites. That fits in with what Mr Kaine was saying because the pressure for hard hats on construction sites came first from the union movement and first from workers demanding safety. They demanded that it be made compulsory. Legislatures were slower to move. Only recently, with occupational health and safety legislation, has the state stepped in and said, "You shall be protected". Before that, the workers themselves were demanding protection. So, I just cannot see an argument about compulsion versus optionism.
Mr Moore said that there was the problem of vanity; that people would not like wearing helmets because of their vanity. I am sure that people would rather have even an ugly helmeted head than a squashed and beautiful one. He spoke of a trade-off. He said that there was a trade-off involved here; that 15 per cent fewer people were riding bikes in Victoria. I am happy with a trade-off that has 15 per cent fewer people on bikes for 50 per cent fewer fatalities and serious head injuries; and that is what the figures show, if you want to talk trade-offs.
The issue of skateboards and rollerblades was raised. I think that what this Assembly or parliaments throughout Australia will be looking at before compulsory helmets for skateboarders and rollerbladers may be the issue of whether they are to be allowed on the roads. There is a strong argument that perhaps they should not be on the roads. That is the big difference now. Essentially, they are recreational activities and in the ACT we encourage them to be done in recreation parks that we provide and in skateboard rinks that we provide. It may be that either private members or the Government may bring before the Assembly something in the way of an element of compulsion. But skateboards and rollerblades are not used regularly on the commuter roads as bicycles are; so there is a distinction.
Madam Speaker, the safety arguments are overwhelming. The statistics tabled by Mr Lamont make a case which most members agree with, and the overwhelming public support for the measure makes even Mr Stevenson vote with the Government on this occasion. I am sure, incidentally, that the 75 per cent popular support would be about par for popular support for most actions of this popular Government. We will wait for other Dennis poll results on that giving us more good news.
The other issue that needs to be addressed in my summing-up is this issue of penalties. The first thing which I really must take exception to is Mr Moore's remarks about this being sneaked through, because this was made abundantly clear in the presentation speech. The paragraph says that the general penalty provision in the principal Act currently provides for a maximum penalty of $100 for offences committed against the Act where no other penalty is provided. This provision was last reviewed in 1984 and it is proposed that the penalty be increased to $500. We made this abundantly clear in the introductory speech; so there can be no question that this is an attempt to sneak penalties through.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .