Greg Hunt (Flinders, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Climate Change, Environment and Water) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak today about the rising road toll on the Mornington Peninsula. In fact, there are three elements I would like to raise here. Firstly, I want to address the sad and tragic loss which the Mornington Peninsula has seen over the course of this year. Secondly, I want to address some of the possible causes of that. Thirdly, I want to look, hopefully constructively, at some of the solutions.

We have seen something quite dramatic on the Mornington Peninsula this year. There have been 13 deaths so far this year—we are effectively just over three-quarters of the way through the year—compared to a total of 10 for the whole of 2007. Of course, in every case, this is a human loss and a human tragedy. It is a loss which is felt, and I have met affected families along the way. I know Gwen Bates, who is the mother of Kay Stanley, and I have seen the irreconcilable loss that she has suffered. I have met others as well, and their grief is deep and profound and ultimately will live with them forever.

Given the fact that the number of accidents causing serious injuries on the Mornington Peninsula is also up significantly on last year’s figures, we need to ask why. That brings me to the question of causes. This is, of course, a difficult issue to judge, so I can only go on my discussions with police from the traffic management unit and others. Firstly, there is an element in any one year of bad luck. Secondly, are there systemic causes which can and should be addressed? The view that I have had put to me by some within the police on the Mornington Peninsula is that we have seen an increasing number of weekend visitors to the Mornington Peninsula, that we have seen a large number of accidents on major through roads and that there are real dangers in relation to these roads. That means that we have a combination of young drivers and people who are perhaps not as familiar with the Mornington Peninsula. Taken together, that means that we have risks which need to be mitigated. Those risks need to be mitigated both on the driver education and driver awareness side and on the road quality and road black spots side.

I turn for the bulk of my statement to this question of the solution. The first part of the solution is about driver education and the monitoring available to police. The traffic management unit on the Mornington Peninsula do a great job. There is a review at present of the number of traffic management unit officers across the division—that is, Frankston, Hastings and Rosebud, as well as the Mornington area. Police management has said that the number of officers deployed at each traffic management unit will change. We are hopeful that Rosebud will retain its figures. I want to make this plea to the state and to police management: Rosebud is an area which is growing and is in need of significant traffic management and emergency response facilities, and it would be wrong to take away police from that area. So I respectfully submit to the state police minister and to those carrying out the work of the police minister that Rosebud should not be short-changed. The southern peninsula has a real and pressing need, and the distances can be too great and the time taken can be too long if police and other emergency units are not based clearly in sufficient numbers in the southern peninsula area.

I would also note that there is, perhaps, a role for an enhanced training and education program in our schools on the Mornington Peninsula. The drivers of tomorrow are being trained right now, and we have a significant opportunity to deal with a high-level, high-volume driver education program in our secondary schools. I would like to see that happen on the Mornington Peninsula.

The other element of the solution is that we need to ensure that the Moorooduc Highway is upgraded. This is a dangerous road. It needs to have clearer markings, better preparation and better protections. It is a dangerous road. It needs to be patrolled and it needs to be upgraded, and that is a priority. (Time expired)