Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Climate Change and Water) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you. I know that everyone in this place would be of the view that every death on our roads is a tragedy and that, in many ways, is even more poignant when young people are involved. We know that young drivers are overrepresented in serious crashes. There is a range of strategies which governments at all levels have undertaken over the years to try and improve driver safety, particularly in relation to young people. I am advised that the government is helping to improve the safety of young drivers through the keys2drive national learner driver program. This is a $17 million initiative focused on building a constructive partnership between learner drivers, parents and professional instructors.

The road toll has improved in the last few decades. Certainly since 1970 the number of drivers killed in road crashes has, thankfully, more than halved. Obviously all of us would want those numbers to be even lower, and in fact for there to be no fatalities. Governments have to work to try and continue to make progress. An important element in the improvement of driver safety has been the introduction of graduated licensing arrangements. Those are the responsibilities of state and territory governments. (Time expired)