CHRISTMAS ROAD SAFETY CAMPAIGN PRESS CONFERENCE

E&OE

WITH: HON. SCOTT BUCHHOLZ MP, ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR ROAD SAFETY & FREIGHT TRANSPORT, HON. MARK BAILEY MP, QUEENSLAND MINISTER FOR TRANSPORT & MAIN ROADS, RUSSELL WHITE, FOUNDER OF THE AUSTRALIAN ROAD SAFETY FOUNDATION, ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER MIKE KEETING, QUEENSLAND POLICE & GARY DRANSFEILD, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER – INSURANCE, SUNCORP.

Subjects: Road safety, Queensland Drought.

RUSSELL WHITE:

Well, everybody, good morning and welcome and thank you so much for joining us for this vitally important media call this morning from the Australian Road Safety Foundation's launch of our Christmas road safety campaign. Christmas is a time and the festive season is a time to join with family and friends and to celebrate a year that's come to an end and it's a terrible tragedy for any road trauma to occur at any time during the year but it's even more so when that happens at a time when families should be really getting together and celebrating. So, this Christmas-New Year period is clearly a high point in terms of road safety awareness. And we're pleased that we're joined by a number of our key stakeholders here from a federal, state, policing standpoint and an advocacy standpoint all united in the single view of trying to reduce road trauma and the impact of road trauma across this great nation of ours.

My name is Russell White. I’m the founder and CEO of the Australian Road Safety Foundation. And again, I want to thank each and every one of you for being part of this important event today. I’d now like to bring to the microphone the Deputy Prime Minister, Michael McCormack.

MICHAEL MCCORMACK:

Well thank you, Russell and thank you for your continued advocacy for and on behalf of road safety, for and on behalf of those families who want to be gathered around the Christmas table with everybody present. And unfortunately, this Christmas, like every Christmas, there will be, for many families, an empty place at their table previously filled by somebody who was full of life and vibrancy and vitality and unfortunately, they won't be there this Christmas because they've lost their life on the road. And I know that my Assistant Minister for Road Safety, Scott Buchholz, the Office of Road Safety which we've set up in the Commonwealth Government, is doing everything that it can. And I’m joined here today by Mark Bailey. And of course, it wasn't that many weeks ago we were talking about infrastructure upgrades, better roads, safer highways and joining together as two governments but coming together with a common theme and that is to build a better Queensland, to build a better Australia and to make sure that our roads are safer. But we can only do so much as Members of Parliament. It's up to each and every road user to be absolutely committed to road safety measures this Christmas.

We see the nine trees behind us here with 217 yellow ribbons adorning them. Those nine trees represent each child who lost their life this Christmas holiday season, last year and the New Year period, of course, earlier this year. The 217 ribbons represent a life lost during the same period. And we want to make sure there are no trees and no ribbons this time next year when the Australian Road Safety Foundation, the Australian road safety organisation that Russell White has so courageously headed for so many years with his Fatality Free Friday and other initiatives, we want to make sure that there's absolutely no tragedies this Christmas-New Year holiday period.

And I'm joined by Peter Frazer as well. Now, Peter's daughter Sarah, Safer Australian Roads and Highways, it's named in her honour. She was going to University at Wagga Wagga, my hometown and unfortunately, didn't make it and nor did the tow truck driver who stopped to render their assistance. They were both struck by someone. And such a young life lost and Peter has dedicated and committed his life to making sure that the same fate does not befall any other family. And I commend Peter. He's a great friend, a true friend. He's not just a friend of mine, he's a friend to all who value road safety and hold it near and dear to their heart.

And I'm also joined by Assistant Commissioner for Queensland Police, sorry, Queensland Police, Mike Keating. And I know Mike has gone above and beyond to make sure that Queensland roads are safer. And I commend what he and Mark Bailey, the Queensland Minister, have done in order of making sure that people know that there's a police presence on the road and know that if they do the wrong thing, they'll be picked up and fined accordingly.

So, I commend everybody this Christmas who gets behind a vehicle, gets behind the wheel of a car and indeed, those passengers in that car. Think about your actions, think about yourselves, make sure you get to where you need to be in one piece, safe. You don't have to rush. Christmas is not a time for rushing. It's a time for getting to where you need to be, to spend time with loved ones safe. And I commend those passengers in the car too - if the driver is doing the wrong thing, please tell them, please tell them to slow down. Please tell them if they think they've had a bit too much to drink maybe use ‘Option B’. Make sure that whether it's Queensland, wherever it is in this fine country, that we all get to where we need to be in one piece, safe and sound this Christmas-New Year's holiday period.

I'll ask Scott Buchholz to add to my remarks.

SCOTT BUCCHOLZ:

Thank you Deputy Prime Minister. And can I acknowledge Mark Bailey and the Police Commissioner and all here today that are joined at the hip on our safety message. And basically, it’s when you get in behind the wheel of a car this Christmas, you're in charge. You're responsible to make sure that you're not over the limit. You're responsible to make sure that you’ve got your seatbelt on. You're responsible to make sure that fatigue, distraction, all those elements that cause those fatal and serious injuries of the past do not repeat themselves. You’ll be sitting around the kitchen table in the next couple of days and asking loved ones what do they want for Christmas. The best Christmas gift you can give a family member or loved ones is to let them know you’re going to be there in February; that you’re not part of the road toll statistics over this Christmas. That’s the best gift you can give them.

Today, we’ve got these road safety announcements by the Road Safety Foundation representing the nine trees of the nine children that lost their lives last year. If you went back and spoke to their families, none of those were planned. They were all tragic accidents and most of them could have been avoided. So again, I just reiterate the point - when you step into a car and you've got precious cargo on board, you are responsible. The roads that we drive on today, with the support of states, are arguably better than what they were a decade ago. The cars that you drive today arguably, through the vehicle safety standards in Australia, are safer than what they were a year ago. You're the common denominator; you're responsible.

MARK BAILEY:

Great to join the Deputy Prime Minister, Scott Buchholz, Russell White from the Road Safety Federation and of course Peter Frazer, a great advocate as well from SARAH. Look, this time last year we had a horror year in terms of Queensland on the roads. The highest road toll in the nation was in Queensland - 13 people lost their lives; 13 families devastated by the tragedy on our roads. So let's make it zero this year. We've all got to be part of this solution. And the sad truth is that more than 80 per cent of fatalities are caused by people doing risky things and paying a terrible, terrible price. So we've all got to be part of the road safety solution and that means speaking up for road safety. If you're in a car and someone's had too much to drink or if they're speeding and being unsafe, speak up and make sure that we're all safe because we've all got to be part of this solution. You know, we've also seen in Queensland a spike in fatalities in north Queensland; that’s of real concern. Thirteen more lives lost this year than last year. So I say especially if you’re in North Queensland, safety has to be your number one priority every time you get behind the wheel and speak up for road safety over Christmas because the best present you can give for Christmas is you.

RUSSELL WHITE:

And again, I want to thank the political leadership from the federal level, from the Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack, the Assistant Road Safety Minister Scott Buchholz and certainly from a Queensland perspective, the honourable Mark Bailey, the Minister for Transport and Main Roads. It is absolutely critical that we have that political leadership to help drive that community ownership and awareness. Equally though, it also comes down to an enforcement piece and I'd like to bring to the stage Assistant Road Commissioner Mike Keating. Mike…

MIKE KEATING:

Thank you, Russell and can I acknowledge the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister Buchholz, Minister Bailey and the whole community that are here today to talk about road safety. I think right from the start, it's really important to acknowledge the cohesive and collaborative approach that the ministers collectively have taken to road safety nationally here in the last 12 to 18 months and particularly here in Queensland. There's a lot of progress going on; a lot of good initiatives going on and colleagues from Transport and Main Roads leading many of those initiatives.

So there's a whole power of effort going into improving the processes of road use and road safety. But fundamentally, the actions come down to the road user whether they be a car driver or a motorbike rider, a pedestrian, a bicycle rider, people need to make the best possible decision they can and be responsible and accountable for the decisions that they make. Don't wait to see a police officer to make a good decision, make that decision all of the time as you're using the road and please be mindful of other people around you.

We know the fatal five and the most easy thing that anybody can do this holiday period is to simply slow down. Stick to the signed speed limits or drive according to the conditions which you're in. And while I'm talking about conditions, I’d particularly like to acknowledge the fantastic work being done right across the country by our firefighting authorities right throughout Queensland, New South Wales, right throughout the country. And if you're driving on a road, please be aware of where you are and where you're going. If there's a fire emergency, a fire alert, be informed about that and don't drive towards a fire. Don't drive towards a situation where you're placing yourself or others at risk and more importantly, where you're compromising the efforts of fire service people right around this country. They're just doing an outstanding job and let's not add to their problems by creating problems on the road. Thank you.

RUSSELL WHITE:

Thank you, Mike. And our final speaker this morning is from the– is the CEO of Insurance for AAMI. It's Gary Dransfield. Gary…

GARY DRANSFIELD:

Thank you, Russell. At Suncorp and in particular through our AAMI insurance brand, we've been proud to partner with the Australian Road Safety Foundation for 12 years through such campaigns as Fatality Free Friday and Rural Road Safety Month. We share a passion with the Road Safety Foundation to make our roads safer and to reduce the impact on our communities of accidents. Through our AAMI Crash Index, we analyse our claims data for the cause of accidents and for accident black spots across the country. And one of the things that comes through very clearly with that is the understanding that many, many of the accidents and injuries that result from them are avoidable. So as the other speakers have said, we absolutely encourage all road users to exercise good judgment and care because much of what happens can be avoided. Thank you.

RUSSELL WHITE:

And I just want to again emphasise that point that the foundation simply wouldn't be able to do the work that we do without our supporters, and certainly to Suncorp and AAMI for their ongoing support or seats. Also [indistinct] to Caltex and Lisa Roobottom who is the HSC manager for Caltex here in Brisbane. Lisa’s with us today. She’ll be available for comment little bit later as well. I'd also like to acknowledge the party program, Roslyn O'Neill. Roslyn will also be here for some comments in terms of the work the party does. And as Minister Bailey said, we'd also like to acknowledge Peter Fraser and the SARAH Group for their ongoing work as well. I think what's really critical is the road safety needs that sort of leadership and ongoing commitment, not only from the Federal level and also from a state level, and an enforcement level, but equally as non-government organisations, as leading NGOs, we need to also work collaboratively wherever we can to continue to push that message across.

As everyone has said, the Christmas trees and the 217 ribbons represent the impact during that one single moment in time during that Christmas period. And it's a stat that we certainly want to turn around and certainly not have those numbers- in fact, we want zero. We’d rather have no trees and no ribbons, quite frankly. And it's really a community effort. So, whilst we have the government and the enforcement side, the keys to road safety ultimately rests with us as a community, and it’s how we choose to use the roads, it’s the choices we make that will ultimately make that biggest influence.

So again, I want to thank you all very much. I want to wish you all a happy and safe Christmas. And thank you very much for coming.

[Applause]

JOURNALIST:

So I just have a couple of questions for the Minister, if I can? So as you would have heard today, about 70 per cent of Queensland has been drought declared. What's your reaction to that?

MICHAEL MCCORMACK:

Well look, it's dreadful, and it shows that this insidious drought just continues. And what we need is rain. And of course, we'll continue to monitor the drought. As a Federal Government, we've added to the 122 councils that were receiving support under the Drought Communities Program, and that support may well need to be extended. We added to it by six in the latest round of drought measures. Many of those council areas, those local government regions are in fact in Queensland. But if we need to add to it, we obviously will. We're doing everything we can and working in conjunction with the state. So I appreciate that today at Moree, the Drought Ministers are meeting and doing what they can as state governments, as a collective working with the Commonwealth Government to do what we can to help these, not just the farmers but indeed the entire regions. Because the drought doesn't stop at the farm gate; it continues in small businesses. And that's why our latest round of measures also went to support those small businesses in those towns which are also very, very badly affected by drought.

JOURNALIST:

And as you’d be aware, there's been quite a bit of discourse in Brisbane around a climate emergency. Would you say that some of this drought is due to climate change?

MICHAEL MCCORMACK:

Well of course the climate can be a factor, but it's also a factor that many of these fires are being started by little Lucifers who go around and cause arson attacks. They deliberately light fires, and they should be caught, and they should face the full fury of the courts. What we don't want to see this fire season is people placing other people's lives, indeed first responders, but community member’s lives at risk by deliberately starting fires. Yes, it's very hot. And yes, we have had a prolonged drought, and that has taken its toll, and that is creating conditions by which fires can start with lightning strikes and just haystacks self-combusting, and the like. It's not helped. It's not helped when we have people who deliberately go around and start fires. And as I say, they should face the full brunt of the courts.

JOURNALIST:

That’s it for me.

MICHAEL MCCORMACK:

And to that end order, I’d actually urged encourage anybody who sees suspicious activity to call Crime Stoppers: 1800-333-000. If you see somebody acting suspiciously or indeed starting a fire, then ring and dob them in. And if you see a fire that is raging that perhaps nobody is aware of, ring 000. That's the best thing that you can do.

Shane Manning