Duynhoven Harry: Land Transport Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
Duynhoven Harry: Land Transport Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
[Volume:629;Page:1904] 
Hon HARRY DUYNHOVEN (Minister for Transport Safety) 
: 
 I move  
That the Land Transport Amendment Bill be now read a second time 
. First I thank the House for being prepared to accept that this bill will be debated under urgency and will proceed through all its remaining stages forthwith. I do appreciate that. I also thank the Transport and Industrial Relations Committee for its work on this bill and for reporting it back to the House speedily. The committee had an unusually short time in which to examine the bill and it has done an admirable job. I note that the committee is recommending a number of amendments most of which I fully support. I am however proposing a further amendment to make an adjustment to the conditions under which an application for passenger endorsement reinstatement can be made. 
This bill will allow some passenger service drivers with criminal convictions—which under changes to the Land Transport Act that were passed by this House last year and that came into force in January this year prohibited them from holding a passenger endorsement—to apply to the Director of Land Transport to have their endorsements reinstated. This bill will also allow some individuals with convictions for those types of offences to apply for a new passenger endorsement. 
It has previously been noted in the House how difficult it is to strike the right balance on this issue. We all agree that many of those who had their passenger endorsements removed by the legislation this bill amends are unlikely to pose a risk to the travelling public and that they should be given the opportunity to have their cases considered by the director. Indeed a number of them have featured in the media and most people have had considerable sympathy for their position. However the committee—rightly in my view—considered that those convicted of more serious offences should remain excluded. It is the matter of where that balance is drawn that is the challenge. 
The committee is therefore recommending that the reinstatement avenue be widened but that in addition to those currently able to apply for a passenger endorsement reinstatement an application can be made only when if the conviction was for a sexual offence the offence was either sexual connection or an indecent act with a young person under 16 or indecent assault and when the individual was not sent to prison for that offence. Furthermore the committee also recommends that a similar limitation be placed on future new P endorsement applications for those who are not currently in the industry. That would exclude new applications from anyone with a specified serious offence including a violent offence except those convicted under either sections 134 or 135 of the Crimes Act and who was not sent to prison. 
I support the intent of the committee’s amendments in that regard and the bill as amended would allow almost all of the affected individuals who have come forward on this issue to apply for reinstatement. However in regard particularly to limits on applications for P endorsement reinstatement I do have some concerns. The bill as reported back would prevent from applying for reinstatement some individuals who have convictions for offences that are probably at the minor end of the scale. In particular some of those individuals were in prison for offences under sections 134 or 135 of the Crimes Act that attracted very small custodial sentences many years ago—as far back as the 1960s—and they are unlikely to pose an undue risk to public safety and security. One person who has come to my attention was in prison for 1 month and has led what one might call an exemplary life since. In my view such individuals should at least be given the opportunity to apply to the director to have their cases for reinstatement examined and I have tabled amendments to allow for that. 
The select committee is recommending a small number of other amendments that tighten the criteria for considering reinstatement and new P endorsement applications. These changes specify that the Director of Land Transport must be satisfied that a person with a qualifying conviction will not be a threat to public safety or security before reinstating or even allowing an application for a P endorsement. That elevates the threat to public safety and security to being the primary consideration in the director’s decision rather than one of the criteria the director has to consider in making the decision. Those changes also add to the criteria the fact that the director must consider the nature and circumstance of the specified offences for which the individual has a conviction or convictions. That would allow the director to more closely examine individual circumstances rather than rely solely on proxies such as the sentence imposed. I support those amendments. 
I doubt whether there is any one in this House who has not done something in his or her youth that today if it could be expunged or if the clock could be turned back he or she would rather not have done. I am sure many people know friends colleagues and acquaintances who have done things that with the wonderful wisdom of hindsight that friend colleague or acquaintance would rather not have done. Many people who have served various sentences for various offences are now good citizens and I think we have a duty in this House to look at the circumstances of the people whose livelihoods we have in some cases dramatically affected. 
Once again I thank the Transport and Industrial Relations Committee for its work on this bill and for considering this bill in a very rapid fashion. The bill has been dealt with quickly by the select committee which had some difficult balancing issues to consider. The bill fixes a clear problem with land transport legislation that I am sure very few in the House would have appreciated at the time the Minister introduced the bill in 2004. Certainly when the bill was passed in 2005 I doubt that many members had any idea of the number of people who would be affected. The bill fixes the clear problems with land transport legislation and will ensure that those people with relatively minor convictions will be able if cleared by the director to return to work. 
I commend the bill to the House and I hope it receives serious consideration and debate. I trust that the goodwill expressed by so many members from various parties who brought their cases to me at the end of December and early in January this year and right through January and since will mean that they will vote on a principled position and not simply on a political whim. I hope the House will consider this legislation thoroughly over the next several hours and will make the right decisions.