Ms Moyagh Murdock:

As the Deputy said, we are engaged in pre-legislative scrutiny of the alcohol elements of the Bill. As I stated, 60 to 70 lives a year are lost in crashes as a consequence of alcohol being a factor. Use of a mobile phone is absolutely a factor in many crashes but not as many as alcohol and we have legislation in place to deal with the issue. We are monitoring the position. New legislation has been introduced in the United Kingdom to double the number of penalty points imposed. We have other research reports covering speed, vehicles and alcohol and have one coming out on vulnerable road users which will cover the issue of use of mobile phones. I must point out that the mobile phone element did not feature in the 867 fatal crashes to such an extent that it warrants this level of scrutiny and legislative consideration, but we will absolutely have it as part of our programme. It is an offence to use a mobile phone in a car and many manufacturers are introducing technology to disable mobile phones. We have an extensive programme under which we advise employers to adopt an engine on phone off policy. Many crashes were the consequence of employers contacting employees by mobile phone to see what they were doing, but in this debate that is not relevant. We will take whatever measures are required in time.

On ultimately ending up in a position where there will be zero tolerance, we have pointed out that consuming any amount of alcohol impairs driving. We need to tackle the levels we see in our research because 78 lives a year are being lost. That is what we are here to do.

On the vested interests, the Senator is absolutely right. Vintners have a vested interest in selling more alcohol as otherwise pubs would go out of business. We do not have a vested interest, rather we have a mandate to save lives and represent all road users. That is what is different and why we will make interventions and propose legislation. We have the support of the motor industry, the AA and victims' groups. Many vested interest groups fully support this measure. I would not go so far as to say we are a vested interest but that we have a mandate.