The Premier should ban his Corrections Minister Tom Koutsantonis from driving for life if he’s serious about his new driving laws.
The former Minister for Road Safety ran up 60 driving offences and would automatically lose his licence under the Rann Government’s new scheme.
Mr Rann said “drivers who are so bad and so irresponsible that they do not deserve to be on our roads, will never regain their licence.”
“A Redmond Liberal Government will support cracking down on hoon drivers on our roads, but this Government’s rhetoric is starting to sound familiar.
“In January 2003 Michael Atkinson in a media release stated “The message is simple-if you’re a hoon and break the law, you forfeit your right to be on our roads.”
“Once again this Government talks tough but fails to deliver.
“Today’s policy announcement is extremely light on detail and relies on the Police Commissioner to use his judgment in making the decision to cancel someone’s licence for life.
“After eight years of neglect Mr Rann suddenly decides he must do something about the state’s spiralling road toll.”
Yet the Rann Government has:
• Collected over $1 billion in revenue from motorists in 2008-09 with less than 20% returned to roads in South Australia.
• Neglected South Australian roads leaving a $200 million backlog in road maintenance, a figure which is increasing.
• Allowed fifteen of our eighteen major rural roads to score of 5/10 or lower with nine not even considered “fit for purpose”, including the Princes Highway and the Eyre Highway.
• Spent the least amount on road maintenance per capita of any mainland state.
“Today’s announcement is a significant embarrassment to the Rann Government.”