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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2001 Week 8 Hansard (7 August) . . Page.. 2453 ..

MR HARGREAVES (continuing):

does not do any good. Legislation which imposes significant penalties and embarrasses somebody may have some effect.

While I expect the police to look after people's safety, this government is introducing community volunteer programs to help the police. This is being done because we do not have enough police. We do not have enough police to address home invasions, even though the rate has gone down. We have not got enough police to address motor vehicle thefts and here we are encouraging the police to knock your car off!

Mr Smyth: Go back to your first speech. We are actually back on red lights.

MR HARGREAVES: We have gone back to red lights?

Mr Smyth: The blue is right.

Mr Wood: We were right.

Mr Smyth: No. The blue does not have No 2 after it. So go back to your other speech.

MR HARGREAVES: Changing tack again?

Mr Smyth: Yes, go back to your other speech.

MR HARGREAVES: I wonder who was talking about filibustering this morning. They want me to switch tack. I thank the minister very sincerely for bringing me up to date, as he did the last time.

Mr Speaker, we still think the burnout legislation is dopey, we still think it is an infringement of civil liberties to take that power away from the courts, and we still think speed cameras are in fact a revenue raiser. I believe that, as a road safety issue, those vans should be so obvious that they discourage people from speeding.

I would offer this slight suggestion to the minister: what about making speed camera vans iridescent yellow so that they glow in the dark? We could then say to people who are leaving Cooma to come to the ACT, "You will be able to see that there is a speed camera on Hindmarsh Drive." I suggest that, as frivolous as that might sound, the issue is that speed camera vans have to be obvious if they are going to address a road safety issue. Using dark green or maroon vans at night time is not what I would call addressing a road safety issue.

Mr Stanhope raised with me this morning a very good point about red light cameras at intersections. There should be a humungous great sign which says, "There is a red light camera at this intersection. You are a fool if you go through a red light."

I have often spoken about the use of speed cameras to entrap people. Mr Speaker, you will know the intersection of Hindmarsh Drive and Melrose Drive particularly well. When you come from Weston Creek heading to your own good place, in the blink of an eye you move from what is essentially an 80-kilometre an hour zone to a 60-kilometre an hour zone. Many people have been caught by the cameras because of that. Mr Speaker, can I suggest to you, as I have suggested to the government, that if

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