Salesa JennyLAND TRANSPORT (WHEEL CLAMPING) AMENDMENT BILLFirst ReadingHon JENNY SALESA (Minister for Ethnic Communities) on behalf of the Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs: I move That the Land Transport (Wheel Clamping) Amendment Bill be now read a first time. I nominate the Transport and Infrastructure Committee to consider the bill. At the appropriate time I intend to move that the bill be reported to the House by September 2019. This bill amends the Land Transport Act 1998 to regulate the maximum fee that can be charged by wheel clamp operators and prevents the public being charged excessive fees by imposing a cap of $100 for the removal of the clamp. It provides protection for motorists who have been subject to aggressive tactics from clampers and sets rules that provide greater clarity around wheel clamping to ensure that the requirements are properly enforced and motorists are protected from unscrupulous wheel clamp operators. The fee cap of $100 provides an appropriate deterrent to prevent people from parking on private property without permission and ensures businesses can enforce parking breaches on their premises. This bill is necessary because wheel clamping is largely unregulated causing disproportionate financial loss and emotional distress. Wheel clamping has attracted many complaints from the public. I've seen letters from motorists who have experienced bullying and standover tactics as well as having to pay up to $200 to $700 in cash within 30 minutes of being clamped. I consider the disproportionate fines being handed out with the requirement to pay cash on the spot to unclamp a vehicle as very unfair. The law is currently unclear on how much wheel clampers can charge in fees. Currently motorists have little incentive to challenge fees because they don't know what level of fee is unreasonable or unlawful. There needs to be a greater deterrent for wheel clampers to overcharge motorists. A fee cap will target the problem but still strike a balance between protecting motorists and allowing business owners to enforce their rights against people who park illegally on their property.This bill applies to wheel clamping on private property and the rules are intended for people who use wheel clamping as a parking enforcement method on private property. These people are private operators who do not have powers under an enactment to enforce parking. The bill is not intended to provide a framework for wheel clamping by enforcement authorities on the public roads system. Our transport legislation already provides a regime for enforcement authorities such as the police our councils and our parking and they can enforce our parking breaches. I expect these authorities to use their existing powers of enforcement. The bill does not apply where an enactment or bylaw already permits enforcement authorities to clamp—for example when local councils use wheel clamping to enforce freedom camping. The bill does not authorise anyone to clamp where they have no legal authority to do so—for example where a wheel clamp operator does not have permission from the business owner to enforce parking at a place of business.The bill sets a maximum fee for wheel clampers and they can charge only $100. This fee cap is intended to provide enough of a deterrent for parking breaches on private property while still being able to be a reasonable amount for motorists to pay. Setting the cap in legislation will enable Parliament to consider and to debate it. However the bill provides for the ability to amend the cap through regulations—if it needs to be updated to take inflation into account for instance or other factors in the future. The bill makes it an offence for a wheel clamper to breach the maximum fee. This will be enforced by our police. This will reduce harm to motorists and make it easier for them to dispute the fee when it has been overcharged.The bill requires clampers to remove a wheel clamp as soon as possible after a motorist has paid their fee. If the wheel clamper does not do so the motorist is allowed to attempt to remove the clamp provided that they minimise any damage to the clamp. A wheel clamper must also respond in a reasonable amount of time to remove the clamp from a motorist's vehicle. This will help to ensure that motorists do not have to wait for hours until the clamp is removed.In conclusion we acknowledge that there is a legitimate need to protect private property but the practice of what has become a cowboy clamping industry is causing significant harm to many of our consumers. This bill strikes the balance between protecting private property rights and not causing unnecessary harm to motorists for parking breaches. I commend this bill to the House.