Bernie Ripoll (Oxley, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you. I commend the member for Cowper for putting this motion forward. I knew that; it just took me a second to think about it. It is a great motion, because it does draw the House's attention to some really important issues about motorcycle riding and the inherent dangers of riding anything with two wheels, whether it is a motorbike or a pushbike, for that matter. I am lucky enough to ride both and enjoy both immensely. I think they bring a whole range of positive things to people that ride and to local communities, and they can be a really positive thing for the country as a whole. I think there are advantages in riding a motorbike, whether it is a scooter or a bigger bike. I have had all sorts of bikes in my life—some superbikes and some very large off-road bikes. Currently I ride a very nice Italian scooter, a Vespa. It is a beautiful black bike. It is absolutely lovely. From time to time I get around on a Harley-Davidson as well. I try not to admit it too often, but I do love them. They are a beautiful bike. There are some really great things about bikes, and there are some great advantages in terms of being able to commute. They are just a cost-effective mode of transport, whether it is the motorcycle variety or just the push-cycle variety.

But there is no question that anyone who rides a bike knows the inherent danger, and it is quite serious danger. If you ever have a crash on a motorbike, even if it is on your own, your chances of a very serious injury are very high, and death is also a serious possibility. If you are in a collision with a car, a truck or another vehicle then you are going to get seriously hurt. I think the statistics bear this out. I will not go through all the statistics, because they have probably already been mentioned by a range of people, but the statistics just show that, while motorcycle riders make up a very small percentage of the total vehicles on the road, they make up a disproportionately large percentage of those people either killed or injured. I think a quarter of all accidents on motorcycles involve people aged 25 years or younger. It does not take Einstein to quickly make an assessment of the data to tell you that inexperience and big-bore, fast motorcycles are a dangerous combination. These are people who do not yet understand or do not have the depth of experience which makes an enormous difference.

These days I do not get a lot of time to ride a motorbike. It does not quite fit into our, as we always say, busy schedules. The reality of the job we do means we just do not get that much time to ride. When I do I am very conscious of what is around me. I find I am always looking at intersections way before I get there and trying to look into people's eyes through their window to make sure they can see me. There is no point just having right of way, because right of way will mean very little when you are in the hospital. It will certainly mean very little to you or your family.

It is important that those sorts of issues are debated regularly and that we have continual improvement of our road infrastructure and continual improvement of driver and rider education. I think we are going down that path right. I think there are some really great improvements that are being made all the time. There are a number of programs that are supported by governments at state level, local government level and national level. In fact, the government has introduced the National Road Safety Strategy 2011-2020, which is a fantastic program looking at a whole range of issues about how you make more safety improvements from a rider perspective, from a vehicle perspective, on roads and in a whole range of other ways. We know that that does work and it can make an enormous difference.

Something that is always very close to my heart is infrastructure. If you have better roads, you have better safety. There is no question about it. In all the places where we have made those vast improvements, and the Ipswich Motorway that I have spoken about countless times—one day I will count them all—

See this speech in context