Page 793 - Week 03 - Tuesday, 8 March 2016
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Minister for the Environment and Climate Change) (4.30): As Minister for Police and Emergency Services, I am pleased to speak in support of this bill today. At the outset, Madam Deputy Speaker, I acknowledge the considerable time and effort that you invested in the development of this policy during your period of tenure in this portfolio. The results that are before us today are in significant part due to your efforts, and I commend you for them.
The bill makes amendments that give police powers to use alternative avenues to identify, apprehend and prosecute offending drivers without the need for a pursuit. In this day and age, pursuits no longer need to be the primary means for apprehending a driver who flees from police. There can be other, safer ways that police can apprehend an offender, and often those who do not stop for police are known to police, or they can be identified through other means.
The amendments in this bill, therefore, mean that police are more likely to identify offenders, and those offenders will face increased penalties when they are caught. These changes are being introduced following an internal review of police pursuits initiated by the Chief Police Officer, changes in the road safety environment observed in other jurisdictions, and taking into account recommendations from coronial inquests where a person has died in connection with a police pursuit.
The ACT will be the fourth Australian jurisdiction to adopt a limited pursuits policy. Attempted evasions of police have resulted in six fatal collisions on ACT roads since 2004. Some of those fatalities have been innocent third parties. Evading police is unacceptable. It is a dangerous form of criminal behaviour. It is not worth the risk to those involved and to the wider community, and with the changes in this bill it will certainly not be worth the penalties. The bill, in conjunction with the new ACTÂ Policing limited pursuits guidelines, will reduce risk in the road environment, including the possibility of death or serious injury where drivers are being pursued by police.
The reality is that a fleeing driver represents a very significant road safety risk. They are likely to behave in a more dangerous manner if they are being pursued. They increase the threat they pose to public safety, particularly to innocent third parties, and if they are posing an immediate threat to life or serious harm then it is appropriate for police to be able to consider other available means to identify and apprehend them without entering into such a risky environment.
I would make the point that the police have never had unfettered discretion when it comes to the issue of pursuit. There are guidelines now that specify when a police officer can and cannot pursue. It is not an unfettered discretion now. There will be new guidelines in the same way that there are guidelines now, and police officers must adhere to those guidelines that are issued by the Commissioner of the Australian Federal Police.
I would like to commend ACT Policing for its new limited pursuit policy that restricts pursuits to situations where they are necessary to prevent a serious risk to public health or safety or an offence has been committed or is about to be committed which involves serious injury to or death of a person. As a result of these changes, we will
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