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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 14 Hansard (11 December) . . Page.. 5019 ..

MR OSBORNE (9.20): Mr Whitecross raising this so late today was a little disconcerting. However, I think the debate is well worth it. I am not convinced that double demerit points are the answer, but I am not convinced that they are not. We are approaching school holidays. They may have even started today. The reality is that far more accidents occur over that period, when people are travelling away on their Christmas break. They relax and do not focus on the road as much as they should. The threat of double demerit points may well be a deterrent. I do not know that.

As Mr Moore said, this program is very much in its infancy in New South Wales. It has been up and running only for the last 12 months. From all accounts, it has been quite successful. If we as an Assembly change this subordinate law today, we are going to send a terrible message out to everybody in the lead-up to Christmas, which is only two weeks away. I think that we should let it go through and assess it when the Assembly comes back next year. The two periods we are talking about are one week over Christmas and the long weekend in January. The way it has been set up is sloppy. As Mr Moore said, it provides that if you speed in a school zone you will lose double points, when the reality is that the schools will be closed and it does not really matter. It is sloppy, but I would argue that it is worth giving it a go and seeing how well it works. We can look at the police data when the next Assembly returns and assess whether we want to pursue it long term.

I agree with the argument that if it is effective why not do it full time, 52 weeks of the year. But I would argue that there is a case to sit back and leave it in place as a deterrent over the Christmas holiday period and the long weekend period in January. I would encourage the Greens to sit back, and when we come back in the next Assembly - if we come back in the next Assembly - we can sit down and have a really good look at it and decide whether we adopt it over Easter, as Mr Moore said, or over the full 52 weeks of the year. I think that far more damage will be done if we as an Assembly say no to it tonight than will be done if we trial it.

It is pretty pathetic of Mr Whitecross to move this motion today. We all know his views on the police. In one of the first questions he asked, he stood up here and bagged the police about police communications. He will be condemned for that. He and his ilk have constantly eroded police powers.

I think that double demerit points can be a great deterrent. I do not know whether they will be, but let us sit back and see. I would encourage the Greens to at least sit back and assess whether that week period over Christmas and new year and those couple of days in January are worth the effort. They may not be. We can judge that next year.

MS TUCKER (9.24): The Greens are still listening to the argument on this. There are very strong arguments on both sides and it is not very easy for us. I can see very valuable points being made by Labor and also by the Liberals. We will listen to the wrap-up by Mr Whitecross, and I would be happy to give Mr Kaine leave if he wants to speak again so that we can listen to both arguments.

Mr Kaine: I have said everything I have to say.

MS TUCKER: That is a pity.

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