Ivan Dean, Speeches Index

Thursday 12 July 2007

SCHOOL CROSSINGS

Mr DEAN ( Statement ) - Mr President, I speak today reasonably briefly on an issue that was raised during the Estimates process and during our committee's session with DIER and with the minister, Mr Cox. We all know that school crossings have been a safety concern forever and a day and that children have been struck on and near crossings, either getting on buses or alighting from buses. I can take us back to last year when one child was killed and another seriously injured alighting from a bus. The one at Lilydale was killed and the other one was in the Rocherlea area. It is happening far too frequently, Mr President, and we need to do a lot more about it.

It was interesting that during the Estimates session we were advised by DIER, through the minister, that they will implement a flashing orange light to be posted at all school crossings throughout the State, or at least the major crossings throughout the State. The reason I raise it, Mr President, is to draw the members' attention to that and this critical issue and the fact that we need to do that but, more importantly, in April 2006 I, as a member of the Legislative Council, carried out an inquiry in relation to the safety of school crossings in the Launceston area.

As a result of that I submitted a report in April to DIER and to the minister recommending very strongly that we implement a flashing-light system in this State at school crossings. I received a fairly negative response in the first instance from a member of DIER in Launceston who raised the cost of putting these flashing lights out on the streets - everything was very negative. I did not accept that and I submitted a further report to the minister identifying every reason for doing that, and said that it was a nonsense to even put that forward and that everything was positive about this. I never received a response from DIER, nothing at all, until I heard during the Estimates process that they had implemented my strategy.

Nobody expects a pat on the back, but this House, in my view, should be recognised for a lot of the good work it does and I understand that there are other situations arising where members of this House and committees within this House have put forward to government departments a number of strategies that should be implemented.

Mr Parkinson - Do you eat chocolates?

Mr DEAN - I believe there ought to be some recognition of that because very clearly DIER picked it up, ran with it and somebody in that organisation will try to pick up some credit. But my point in raising this, Mr President, is that this is an important issue, that these lights should be put in place. They should be put in place as quickly as is possible and before we have another serious accident occurring through children alighting from or getting onto school buses.

Mr Parkinson - Do you like dark or light chocolate?

Mr DEAN - It does not really matter, just some recognition would be reasonable because it was a great strategy and DIER have run with it, so it very clearly was.

Mr Aird - Are you honestly taking total credit for this?

Mr DEAN - No.

Mr Aird - They could've acknowledged your letter maybe.

Mr DEAN - I have raised in this House many times how ministers and departments come back to members who ask questions and put reports forward and nothing ever comes back and, to me, it is a sad situation. It is an indictment of those organisations and those departments.

I want to refer to a comment in the Examiner today under the headline, 'Drivers show little regard for school children' and the story goes on about vehicles passing through school crossings at 70 kph and 80 kph with little regard for their safety. I am saying that there are a lot of issues concerning the safety of our schoolchildren and we need to get these lights in place and now.

Mrs Rattray-Wagner - Through you, Mr President - there are still some schools that have 70 kph signs so I might get you to write a letter to address that.

Mr Aird - What - another letter so we can ignore it!

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