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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2001 Week 8 Hansard (7 August) . . Page.. 2454 ..

MR HARGREAVES (continuing):

the government wanted to be honest about this they would stick up a sign about 100 to 200 metres before the intersection saying "60 kilometre an hour a zone coming up". If you are a fool and you want to keep going through the intersection at 80 kilometres an hour, you deserve to get pinged and you deserve to contribute to consolidated revenue.

Mr Speaker, there are many things about this speed and red light camera program that have warts on them. But we can turn it to our advantage, and come the October revolution I hope to do something about that. We support this legislation because there is no doubt that red light cameras are a decided road safety measure. Speed cameras are one of the best sources of revenue that God ever invented, and we are stuck with them.

But we will be making red light cameras more obvious. We will be making sure that there is an education program and that there will be publicity. We will not be claiming that this measure is working because it has reduced speed, because I do not believe it has. Mr Speaker, I recommend that the Assembly support this legislation. It should get rid of the sunset clause. However, I continue to oppose the dopey burnout legislation.

MR SMYTH (Minister for Urban Services, Minister for Business, Tourism and the Arts and Minister for Police and Emergency Services) (12.24), in reply: Mr Speaker, after the initial confusion about whether we were considering bill 2001 or bill 2001 No 2, we are on the bill 2001, which, of course, relates to red light and speed cameras, and I would thank the Assembly for their support.

It is interesting that Mr Hargreaves thinks you should have a sign at intersections that says, "There is a camera here and you are a bloody idiot if you go through a red light." I would have thought that whether or not there is a camera in place, you are an idiot if you go through a red light intersection anyway without complying with the law. That is what this is about. But that aside, it is clear that the Assembly will support this bill and remove the sunset clause. I thank members for that support.

Question resolved in the affirmative.

Bill agreed to in principle.

Detail stage

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

Bill agreed to.

Sitting suspended from 12.30 to 2.30 pm

Visitors

MR SPEAKER: Before I call for questions without notice, I would like to recognise the presence in the visitors gallery of Japanese students from Experiment Australia. They have two leaders, Mr Honda and Mr Tajika, who are from the Umagaski City Board of Education. Welcome to the Assembly.

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