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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 9 Hansard (4 September) . . Page.. 3044 ..

MR WHITECROSS (continuing):

Brakes are an important safety system and they will be tested properly only if proper equipment is used. Mr Speaker, I would not be moving these amendments if it were not for the fact that I was advised that the department was contemplating much more lenient brake testing requirements. I felt it was appropriate to put into the Act something to ensure that a proper kind of brake test was implemented.

MR MOORE (11.21): I want to speak briefly in opposition to these amendments, Mr Speaker. The prime thing I want to say is that anybody who has been listening this evening or who will be reading the Hansard ought not believe anything that Mr Whitecross has attributed to me. That is the most important thing I want to get across.

MR KAINE (Minister for Urban Services) (11.22): Mr Speaker, the Government opposes these two amendments because they are impractical. The fact is that some vehicles cannot be tested on roller brake testing equipment because of the way they are built. One particular type of motor vehicle that cannot be tested on them is motorcycles. It is just plain dangerous to attempt to do so. There are other kinds of vehicles that, because of their construction, cannot be inspected on them. The Dickson inspection station does not inspect all vehicles on roller brake testing equipment and uses other suitable equipment for testing those vehicles that cannot be accommodated on the roller brake testers installed. What Mr Whitecross is saying here is that all premises that test vehicles have to have a roller brake system and all vehicles have to be tested on that system. It cannot be done. It is impractical. So he is setting up an impossible situation.

The other factor is that these roller brake systems do not come cheaply. I have heard of figures as high as $30,000 to buy one. If we find that the private operators out there cannot afford to buy such equipment, you are not going to have sufficient accredited inspection stations out there to perform all the inspections that are going to be required every year. The Dickson station will not be able to handle them all. Mr Speaker, these are impractical amendments that cannot be satisfied, and they would put constraints on the whole system that would make it unworkable. For those reasons, we oppose them.

MR WHITECROSS (11.24): I still urge members to support my amendments Nos 6 and 7. If Mr Kaine is convinced that difficulty exists about the phrasing of amendment No. 7 - he has not taken up the opportunity to move an amendment to it - he could still support amendment No. 6, which would ensure that roller brake testing equipment was available for the vast majority of cars for which it was the most appropriate way of testing the vehicles, and still allow the authorised examiner to complete a certificate of inspection for the small number where it was not appropriate. It seems to me that Mr Kaine has made out a good case for supporting my amendment No. 6, even if he will not support my amendment No. 7.

Amendments negatived.

Clause, as amended, agreed to.

Remainder of Bill, by leave, taken as a whole, and agreed to.

Bill, as amended, agreed to.

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