Road safety
13. Mr Shane Love to the Minister for Road Safety:
I refer to the tragically spiralling serious injury and fatality rates on Western Australian roads, particularly regional roads, adding to the thousands of Western Australians who have been injured, including from a serious accident on Brand Highway and Jurien Road in my electorate just this week. The minister is the third minister in under two years to preside over this portfolio and the associated Road Trauma Trust Account.
(1) Is road safety really a priority of this government?
(2) Noting that fatality rates are reaching record highs under the watch of this government, what will the minister be doing to curb this tragic toll, which his predecessors have failed to address?
Mr Reece Whitby replied:
(1)–(2) Thank you for the opportunity, member for Mid-West. The member has raised a very important issue and one that visits right across our community at all levels. We know about the ripple effect when a fatality occurs in any community. We know about that in the regions, and it is true in the metropolitan area as well. I do not agree with the member's preamble about the role of the previous road safety minister and the ministers who had the responsibility previous to him.
We have a disturbing trend, member, and it is not unique to Western Australia. It is something that we are seeing across the whole of the nation and, indeed, internationally. We have had an incredibly good run in safety improvements to vehicles and a reduction in the number of fatalities since the 1970s, with the introduction of new technology like seatbelts and other developments in the design of vehicles. We are reaching a plateau, unfortunately, and we are seeing that evident in Western Australia as well, where that steady decline has stopped occurring. It is a concern. It is something that this government is responding to.
The member will be aware of the $1 billion investment that has been allocated to regional road safety since 2020. This is a very important commitment of this government. On the advice of the RAC and other people across the community, we have invested more than $1 billion across regional roads to make them safer. This has had a very positive impact on road safety statistics. Many members opposite would have benefited from this work in their own constituencies. It includes upgrades and improvements to approximately 9,000 kilometres of regional roads. We have seen widening, we have seen sealing of road shoulders and we are seeing the installation of audible edge lines, or rumble strips, and improved markings and centreline devices. These road treatments have been proven to save lives.
A report on the Regional Road Safety Program showed a 17% reduction in the number of people killed and seriously injured in crashes, including a 52% reduction in fatal crashes. Nine lives are estimated to be saved each year because of this government's commitment not just to road safety, but to regional road safety. I think this is a very commendable effort by the government, but we know that one fatality is one too many, so we are continuing to do our work right across Western Australia. The member may recall that during the election, this government made a $5 million commitment to extend this program to council-controlled roads across the regions. This is work we are doing across Western Australia. It is resulting in improvements. It is saving lives. There are other issues, member. This is real progress and it would have saved lives in the member's electorate as well; I am sure of that—right across the board. It is something that the member should accept as an achievement of this government.
This is an issue that impacts governments across the country and across the world. I, as the new road safety minister, have been getting involved in a lot of meetings with a lot of organisations to get across this portfolio because this is something that can affect every one of us. I am sure that it has already affected some people in this chamber. This is something we never want to politicise. We want to work together to achieve results. This is what this government will be doing. I am particularly concerned, member, about the behaviour of young men, particularly on regional roads. We know that the statistics show that there is an over-representation of fatalities in the regions. In fact, the statistics show that it is not people from Perth driving in the regions, but people who live in the regions who come to grief in single-vehicle accidents that leave the road. There is real work that we need to do. It is a good issue to raise. The government has a razor-sharp focus on this issue. I am committed to approach the issue as vigorously as my predecessor did. There is a lot more to learn and to do. But, ultimately, it comes down to the responsibility of the person behind the wheel, and that is another issue that we need to address.
14. Mr Shane Love to the Minister for Road Safety:
I have a supplementary question. I note the minister's answer, yet the toll still continues to rise. Will he undertake to ensure that the Road Trauma Trust Account is spent meaningfully instead of on stunts, such as wrapping confiscated Maserati cars?
Mr Reece Whitby replied:
I think the member's question has shown that he is not above the odd stunt question in the house. That was something that was undertaken by police. I will have to check, but I am not sure that it came from the road trauma trust fund. I think it was a police initiative to demonstrate—I think quite rightly too—what happens to vehicles that can be seized. Police wanted to send a very clear message. The member might call it a stunt, but it got a lot of publicity and it made people realise that it is possible for people to lose their vehicle, even if it is a Maserati. I support police in their attempts to highlight the issue of road safety. That was a good and effective way of doing it.
