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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2001 Week 4 Hansard (29 March) . . Page.. 1150 ..

MR RUGENDYKE (continuing):

has been a swag of them, all with a common thread-that they will be damaged by this draconian legislation.

I raised further questions with the minister last month that addressed specific problems with continuous registration. I asked Mr Smyth what contingencies would be made for car enthusiasts, and the reply was that the special arrangements for owners of veteran, vintage or historic vehicles would remain. But these are for vehicles that are at least 30 years old. This cuts out a large number of car clubs and enthusiasts, and unfortunately Mr Smyth has not presented another reasonable compromise at this time.

It's not just the car clubs, Mr Speaker. There are other people disadvantaged by these regulations, and I am sure Ms Tucker will be listening to this bit and will apologise about the slur earlier. There are other people disadvantaged by these regulations, and the argument has been put by Mr Hargreaves.

I note Mr Smyth's argument about the national road transport laws. I also note a copy of the email that he referred to that said that nationally consistent registration procedures for light vehicles is not part of their role.

I would like to add my support to the comments about the realities of why some people pay late, and it certainly is not because of a will to do the wrong thing. It is because they are juggling finely balanced family budgets, and it is a fact of life that sometimes they cannot pay on time. It is also a fact of life that some families can only afford to run a vehicle for six months at a time. Finances might get tight, and keeping a vehicle on the road, or in some cases a second vehicle, is a luxury. They have to make a decision to keep the vehicle off the road for a period. For those families who have to keep a vehicle on the road, there are times when the payment is made after the due date, but I do not think it is fair that these people should be targeted by the government's regulations. Mr Speaker, I will be supporting the motion.

Mr Speaker, while I am still on my feet: the issue of vehicle rebirthing was brought up. I recall that many years ago, when I was a member of the stolen motor vehicle squad, that was a burning issue at that stage. At that time there was discussion around solving part of that problem by destroying compliance plates. I must state that I do not know, but I would be disappointed if the authorities have not come to a point where agreement to destroy compliance plates for written-off vehicles has not been achieved. That would be a logical thing to do rather than this draconian-type legislation.

MR HARGREAVES (11.57): I will not speak for very long in closing. Enough has been said. Suffice it to say, though, as Mr Rugendyke quite rightly put it, the minister said some weeks ago, "Don't you worry about this. Some special arrangements will be made for the seasonal vehicles, hobby cars and things like that". Am I correct in assuming it was a couple of weeks ago that he said that?

There has been plenty of time, I suggest, for amendments to come forward now to show us what those special arrangements would be. There has been plenty of time; in fact, the very time that I have been waiting for a response from departmental officers on some of the issues that I have raised, and definitely within the same time frame of the letter that I wrote to the minister voicing my concerns, and nothing has occurred. So the statement, "Don't you worry about that", has a hollow Queensland-type ring about it.

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