Slade Brockman (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Road Vehicle Standards Legislation Amendment Bill 2019. I do so knowing that, particularly in my home state of Western Australia, this is an issue that affects people very much, because road accidents have a significant impact on local communities, particularly in rural and regional Western Australia. Over the last few years there have been a number of tragic accidents in rural and regional WA. So vehicle standards are very important. But it is also important to remember in this place that changes to laws do not suddenly introduce changes to the production of motor vehicles. In fact, motor vehicle standards have been improving, thanks to market forces, for the last 17 years that Senator Rice mentioned.

The vehicle I drove 17 years ago was from the same manufacturer as the vehicle I drive today, but if I compare them, I don't think the vehicle I was driving 17 years ago had any air bags, let alone seven or eight. It had no side impact protection. It had no radar system to detect cars ahead and behind. It had no impact warnings, and so on and so forth. Cars have become significantly safer over the years, and that has at least as much—I would probably say more—to do with innovation and development as with government regulation. However, it is important that we look at what the rest of the world is doing and continue to keep our vehicle standards up. We need always to bear in mind, though, that we must have vehicles that are affordable to the broader Australian population. We don't want vehicles to become unaffordable to the vast majority of the Australian population.

The Road Vehicle Standards Act, and related legislation, was passed with bipartisan and crossbench support last year. It strengthens and modernises the framework for the regulation of all road vehicles in Australia; it maintains and improves vehicle safety, providing more choice for specialist and enthusiast vehicles; and it is responsive to emerging technologies. Around 1,200 people die on Australian roads every year, so it is important that we get it right. This is a very extensive set of changes to the Australian government's regulation of road vehicles. In fact, these are the most extensive changes for almost three decades. The government is very well aware of that and accepts that is the case. It is a very important change. However, the scale of that change also means that we must handle the implementation carefully and in consultation with a large number of stakeholders.

The legislative change is a complete rewrite of the existing framework under the Motor Vehicle Standards Act 1989, which will be phased out as the Road Vehicle Standards Act is phased in. It's underpinned by best-practice regulatory logic and it reforms every aspect of existing practice. The substantive provisions of the road vehicle standards legislation are scheduled for commencement on 10 September 2019 and 10 December 2019. The government acknowledges that more time is needed to ensure the smooth implementation of these reforms. This is to avoid any needless disadvantage to Australian businesses in their transition.

The purpose of the Road Vehicle Standards Legislation Amendment Bill is to postpone the commencement of the substantive provisions of the Road Vehicle Standards Act 2018 and related legislation. The bill will ensure that the substantive provisions of the RVS legislation commence on a date fixed by proclamation or 1 July 2021, whichever is sooner. It also postpones minor consequential amendments to other legislation outlined in the Road Vehicle Standards (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Act 2018. The bill does not affect the operation of the substantive provisions of the road vehicle standards legislation once it commences. There will be no direct or indirect financial impact on the Commonwealth from the passage of this bill.

I'd like to turn to why it is necessary to postpone the commencement of the RVS Act. It's basically to ensure the smooth implementation of these reforms. We don't want to see any Australian businesses disadvantaged. It gives stakeholders—and there are many stakeholders in this space—an opportunity to become very familiar with their obligations under the new legislation and to engage in detailed planning with the government in the implementation phase, and it provides industry and other stakeholders with time to gain the guidance needed to make sure the implementation is done correctly. This delay will ensure that stakeholders can develop, test, properly sequence, and implement changes to business processes, maximising the benefits available to them once the substantive provisions of the legislation commence. The postponed commencement will also ensure that the government can coordinate readiness across the Commonwealth, state and territory governments to ensure the timing for commencement of the legislation is correct.

Building IT systems to support the administration of the new legislation is vital to ensuring the efficiency for both industry and government. As everyone in this place would no doubt appreciate, building such IT systems is extraordinarily complex and time consuming and is something you want to get right. The last thing you want to see with such a substantial change to a regulatory framework is new systems that are not completely fit for purpose and ready to work as close to 100 per cent capacity from day one. There are certain enablers that will ensure the effective operation of the road vehicle standards legislation. More time is required, to put it simply, to make sure that these enablers are in place. These include, for example, a sufficiently robust network of authorised vehicle verifiers who will be able to check that certain vehicles have met applicable standards before being allowed to drive on our roads.

The government's sole desire in this space is to ensure that the transition is as smooth as possible. Postponing the commencement of the road vehicle standards legislation is crucial to its successful implementation, which I'm sure is something that we all want, particularly given that the original bill was passed with bipartisan support. The substantive provisions of the road vehicle standards legislation are, as I said, currently scheduled for commencement on 10 September 2019 and 10 December 2019. The government remains committed to implementing these important reforms, and the postponement is crucial to that implementation.

The impact of this on stakeholders is, of course, of vital concern to the government. Stakeholders representing those who'll provide the vast majority of vehicles to the Australian market have expressed support for the postponement. Postponing the commencement will give stakeholders the opportunity to become familiar with their obligations under the RVS legislation and a further opportunity to engage with the government in the detailed planning phase, as well as ensure they can develop and test all that they need to do within their own individual businesses, which are, of course, very different. This will maximise the benefits that flow to consumers and to the general sector.

Again, the government, in consultation with industry stakeholders, needs to make sure that the IT systems are absolutely fit for purpose. That is not to say that some sections of the industry may not be disappointed by the postponed commencement. That is particularly true of some small businesses and their customers who have been looking forward to some of the benefits afforded by the new legislation. These benefits particularly include the choice of older or specialist or enthusiast vehicles. Obviously there is a very strong market for specialist vehicles within Australia, and so there are those who would like to see these reforms in place more quickly. However, they will come into place in the time frame I've outlined, and those benefits will flow. Unfortunately, it is necessary to prioritise certain things, and obviously prioritising successful implementation was key in this case.

The postponed commencement does not deprive the Australian community of a framework for the regulation of road vehicles at the point they are supplied to the Australian market. Obviously the Motor Vehicle Standards Act 1989, which, I think people will acknowledge, has been acting successfully for a long period of time, will continue to be in force, and the existing regulatory framework will ensure that vehicles supplied to the Australian market and used on public roads meet safety, environment, and anti-theft standards. The Competition and Consumer Act 2010 currently provides for safety recalls for road vehicles that are also consumer goods.

The intention of this bill is only to postpone the commencement of the substantive provisions of the road vehicle standards legislation, which, again, passed with bipartisan and crossbench support last year. The substance of those reforms are not at all at issue. All we are talking about is the commencement date of that legislation. Every manufacturer, importer and business needs the opportunity to fully understand their obligations under the act. Any sense that that was not the case was a very important factor in determining the government's decision to delay implementation. Road safety is of vital importance to the Australian people. They regularly list it as one of the key features in assessing the quality and safety of our automotive and road transport systems. I think it is important that all in this place acknowledge that fact, but we also have to acknowledge that these things are a balance and road standards need to function in practice as well as look good on paper.

The number of deaths on Australian roads is significant. This year alone there have been 635 deaths on Australian roads. Unfortunately that is up slightly—it's around 13 per cent higher than the same period last year. Western Australia has a significant road fatality rate, unfortunately. It has one of the worst road fatality rates in Australia at 7.3 fatalities per 100,000, compared to 5.39 throughout the rest of Australia. So these changes are of vital interest to my home state.

It is the responsibility of the Australian government to set safe and reliable road vehicle standards to ensure that everyone has the ability to get home safely every day. The government maintains jurisdictions over vehicles up to the point of first supply into the Australian market, and around 1.1 million cars are sold throughout Australia each year. In replacing the Motor Vehicle Standards Act of 1989 with the Road Vehicle Standards Act, we must ensure that we keep up with changes in the market, including changes in manufacturing technology and including changes in the automotive sector that have occurred in the past 30 years. However, we must do so in a way where the Australian market and Australian consumers get the largest benefit from the changes.

Some of the changes in the substantive act are that there are improved provisions for the recall of vehicles and of approved components. Manufacturers and importers are expected to issue a voluntary recall if there is a risk of harm to any person or if they do not comply with the standard. A minister can, of course, issue a compulsory recall. The act will replace identification plates with an online register, to be known as the Register of Approved Vehicles. Manufacturers and importers supplying vehicles will need to have details of a vehicle to supply it into the RAV, which will generally be accepted as suitable for road use. An online, publicly searchable database of vehicles approved for use on Australian roads will exist so that all consumers will know if the vehicle they are buying is acceptable and its safety rating. The substantive act creates an offence to import road vehicles without permission. This ensures that all vehicles have been vetted and are safe for Australians to drive. There's also an offence for altering a vehicle from its original state before the consumer has been provided with the vehicle. Again, this ensures that Australian consumers get what they expect when they buy it.

Consumer choice will be increased as variants of particular vehicles will be able to be imported as long as they meet a set of standard requirements. Those requirements are, of course, set out in the substantive legislation. This is why it's important to allow extra time for the new act to come into force. From the government's point of view, this is about getting it right, not getting it through quickly. We need efficient legislation to ensure the safety and environmental performance can respond flexibly to the evolution of new vehicles on our road. Stakeholders do need the time to be able to adjust their systems to the new regime. Again, this legislation passed with bipartisan support last year, and I hope this bill does the same.