Joe O'Toole (Independent)

I agree with Senator Fitzgerald's remarks on road safety, which is being discussed throughout the country at present. The Leader has made time available for debates on this issue in the past. It might be worth discussing it again. It should be recognised that simple things can be done to improve road safety, but they are not being done. It does not take rocket science to do some of them. The current driving test does not involve an overtaking manoeuvre. We are putting people on the roads whose overtaking abilities have never been tested, in effect. It is complete madness that the test does not cover night driving, or driving at speeds of more than 40 km/h. All kinds of problems are being created on our roads as a result.

I would like to mention some related issues, which I have raised previously. It is clear that there should be separate speed limits for wet and dry road conditions. One sees two speed limits on road signs all over the Continent — one for wet weather and one for dry weather. Why can we not do the same? Most countries do not allow drivers to turn right off a main road. Perhaps we should no longer have traffic lights which go amber before they go red. Alternative traffic light sequences should be provided for night time, when a significant number of accidents take place. People who know they have the right of way sometimes collide with those who have broken the lights while travelling in the opposite direction. I suggest that traffic lights on all sides should flash amber throughout the night, so everybody approaches every junction carefully before passing through.

I could put before the House a list of 20 simple proposals which any reasonable and rational person would accept. The first thing I would do is ensure people cannot pass the driving test until they have shown they can overtake and understand the speed of their cars. Drivers who flash their lights at people who are overtaking with a mile and a half of clear road in front of them have no idea of the speed the other car is doing. The House should have a discussion on these issues.

As today is the first day of the Chinese new year, it is appropriate for us to give some thought to the hundreds of millions of people who are suffering under the most repressive regime in the western world, if it can be called the western world — they hope to be in the western world. We are doing business with these people. We are sending them our waste. We are closing our eyes to the repression that is going on. I refer to forced organ harvesting and family planning, for example. There is a lack of human rights in China. There is no Opposition. A million other repressive things are happening there. It is not a very happy new year for 99% of the Chinese population. In this year of the Chinese Olympics, when we will cheer the great buildings we will see on our televisions, we should give some consideration to people in China who are dying in the wilderness and not being allowed to live with normal human rights.