6^th March 2008 

Rev Fred Nile Helps Make Streets Safer

The Rev Hon Fred Nile MLC, Leader of the Christian Democratic Party, gave the following address before the Legislative Council in State Parliament yesterday regarding the work of the Standing Committee on State Development:

“The Christian Democratic Party supports the Road Transport Legislation Amendment (Car Hoons) Bill 2008, which will amend the Road Transport (General) Act 2005, the Road Transport (Safety and Traffic Management Act) 1999 and certain other road transport legislation to make further provisions with respect to drivers, registered operators and motor vehicles involved in street racing, burnout and aggravated burnout offences.

I felt uncomfortable, as did other members, with the use of the term "car hoons" in the title of the bill. The better term would have been "street racing". I acknowledge, however, that in most discussions about this issue the term "hoon" has been used. Recent articles in the Daily Telegraph carried the following headlines: "Crackdown on Hoons", "Hoons victim's family appeal", "Car 'hoons' a drag for residents", "Hoons blitzed by record car confiscations". The term is becoming very much a part of our language and communication. Yet another report states, "Professor puts a positive spin on hooning around". A whole series of words has been developed from this activity. It may be that the hoons feel a sense of pride about getting a mentioned in this bill. If that is so, perhaps we should not include a reference to their name in the bill.

The bill increases penalties for drivers convicted of street racing or aggravated burnout offences to $3,300 in the case of a first offence and $3,300 or imprisonment for nine months in the case of a second or subsequent offence. It will enable police immediately to suspend at the roadside the licences of drivers charged with a street racing offence or with an aggravated burnout offence. A driver convicted of an aggravated burnout offence will automatically be disqualified from driving for 12 months, as is currently the case with street racing. One of my sons who spent many years in the highway patrol shared his concerns with me over the years. We must increase the strength of the highway patrol—cars and police bikes—so that we have sufficient police officers to enforce the legislation.

There has been some discussion by the Government about increasing police numbers, but I encourage it to pursue increasing the strength of the highway patrol. We have general duties police and other police officers, but as this is a specialised area, highway patrol officers, who know how to deal with car hoons, will give them short shrift when they are identified and apprehended. There have been a number of successful police crackdowns, for example, last year's Operation Vikings. Dozens of traffic police targeted car racing and hoodlums in 23 suburbs and 141 people were charged. That included 323 speeding fines and a 20-year-old P-plater who was apprehended for doing 115 kilometres an hour in a 60-kilometre zone on Liverpool Road, south Strathfield. Those are the sorts of problems that occur when experienced drivers participate in dangerous and high-speed events”, Rev Fred Nile said.

“I am sure that all members are aware of the tragic deaths of Alan and Judith Howle, the parents of seven children. They were killed when their Toyota Camry—which Mrs Howle, aged 70, was driving—was struck at high speed on the Great Western Highway at St Marys by two Holden Commodores alleged to have been drag racing. The impact flung Mr Howle, aged 71, from the car, killing him instantly. We need stronger legislation but, as other members have said, there must also be enforcement. Last year it was reported that the La Peruse link road was being used by car hoons for drag-racing. There is a gate across that road but apparently it is not locked. Reports suggest that the gate, which enables police to shut down the area when a large number of car enthusiasts gather together, has been locked only twice since its installation in September last year.

Residents have requested police to close the gate but apparently their requests have gone unanswered, leaving the circuit open to hoons to travel down Foreshore Road at Port Botany, snake their way down Bunnerong Road and gather at Anzac Parade loop road at La Peruse. If police take action to lock that gate it would reduce such dangerous activity. There has been an increase in car confiscations across New South Wales. This year police seized 84 vehicles in a two-month period. A Honda CRX and a Mazda RX7 were impounded and the drivers' licences were suspended on the spot. Apparently the drivers of those vehicles were aggressive and gestured with their middle fingers to police and to anyone else who was present. Some of our young drivers are very aggressive.

Professor Rob White, a professor of sociology at the University of Tasmania, appears to be defending car hoons. I do not agree with his views. Apparently he said that sensational media reports had given the impression that hoons were "taking over our streets". He was critical of the fact that hooning had been criminalised. Professor White, in his defence of hoons, claimed:

There is a difference between dangerous driving on the street, which is never acceptable, and the kind of activities car-crazed youths like to engage in.

The trouble is that these youths are engaging in dangerous activities on routes that are being used by members of the community; they are not engaging in these activities on racing tracks. As other members have said, people who use the roads in our State should not have to compete with these hoons. I am pleased that the Government has increased the penalties for aggravated burnout offences to include doing things that prolong, sustain, intensify or increase the loss of traction in a locality where there is an appreciable risk that it will interfere with the amenity of that locality or make it unsafe for any person, and participating or urging others in a group to participate in these things.

This legislation will enable the Roads and Traffic Authority to suspend the registration of a vehicle for a second or subsequent offence if that offence is committed using a vehicle that is registered to the same person within five years after the original suspension warning notice was issued. If a vehicle that is registered to the same person is used to commit a third offence within that five-year period the bill proposes that it be forfeited to the Crown, which I believe is a necessary provision. The Christian Democratic Party is pleased to support the bill”, stated Rev Nile.