Page 543 - Week 02 - Wednesday, 21 February 2018
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I note that this intersection, while obviously a problem that needs to be fixed, is only No 8 on the list. There is also a list of top 10 mid-blocks—that is, parts of roads between intersections. A number of these roads may have more urgent safety problems than the Tillyard-Ginninderra intersection. I do not feel in any way that I have knowledge of what intersection we should be diverting money from. I would hate to be in the situation where money was diverted from one intersection to another only to have someone die at this intersection.
Rather than have the Assembly do probably not that wonderful a job, from an engineering and traffic safety point of view, of picking winners, my view is that it is preferable to let the government’s engineer prioritise which roads get fixed first. If the government had clearly forgotten this intersection or was clearly acting in error, I would consider otherwise. However, in this case, it does not appear at all that the government has forgotten the intersection, and it appears that appropriate steps are already underway.
In conclusion, I agree with Mrs Kikkert that this intersection is clearly worth government attention. But I will be supporting Minister Fitzharris’s amendment to the motion, as clearly the government is already giving this important issue attention.
MRS DUNNE (Ginninderra) (5.28): I am pleased to be able to support Mrs Kikkert’s motion here today because for quite some years I have been fielding complaints from constituents about the Tillyard Drive and Ginninderra Drive intersection. For quite some years I have been making representations to various ministers and getting non-answers in reply. Still the Minister for Transport and City Services continues to dawdle on this issue.
Mrs Kikkert already has spoken about the review report, which is well overdue for release, and I do acknowledge the minister’s willingness now to table this report, although at some point in the next month or so. As my colleague Mrs Kikkert has said, when the report came as a result of a petition signed by over 1,300 people, it is surely the case that those people who are the catalyst for the study should have a right to know what has been said as a result of their concerns. Mrs Kikkert extrapolated the cost of crashes at the intersection of Tillyard Drive and Ginninderra Drive and also gave the statistics of a number of crashes, including the number that involved personal injury.
The government keeps lamenting the cost of comprehensive motor vehicle insurance, particularly the cost of compulsory third-party insurance. Perhaps, instead of seeking to restrict the rights of injured people to access compensation as a means to an end to reduce the cost of premiums, the government could actually make our roads safer and less accident prone. Perhaps that would help reduce the number of accidents and perhaps that would bring the cost of insurance down rather than relying on having injured people being denied their rights to compensation and rehabilitation. If the government were to be more vigilant in watching and fining speeding motorists, including those who speed along Tillyard Drive and have crashed along that stretch, it might help to keep the cost of insurance down.
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