Gallagher Martin: Land Transport (Driver Licensing) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Gallagher Martin: Land Transport (Driver Licensing) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
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MARTIN GALLAGHER (Labour—Hamilton West) 
: 
 I found myself agreeing with a lot of the points Sandra Goudie made which is somewhat of an unusual experience. Along with her I certainly want to compliment the previous speakers. I know she meant to include the Hon Harry Duynhoven and the Hon Peter Dunne in her praise. I add them to mine and also acknowledge David Bennett who made a very good contribution as did the Hon Maurice Williamson. 
Their speeches highlight the fact that all members of this House want to have and see a very—if you like—sober analysis of the issues and problems being posed with regard to the terrible propensity for young drivers to have a much higher proportion of fatalities and injuries than other age groups. Just raising the driving age from 15 to 16 will not on its own be the cure-all panacea but it will give us a starting point for a renewed national New Zealand - wide discussion to address some of the horrific statistics we observe with regard to our young people. 
In that sense I want to personally thank the Hon Peter Dunne for his initiative in getting this proposal back on to the parliamentary agenda and I think the select committee is the place for its analysis. 
David Bennett my good colleague from Hamilton East illustrated the differences and complications that exist around the argument. I am sure he will have lots of intense discussions with the Hon Maurice Williamson and Sandra Goudie because obviously they will be going to him for some guidance. I acknowledge very seriously Maurice Williamson’s previous experience in this area. Some of his contribution is particularly worthwhile reflecting on today. 
If the information I have in front of me is correct then as I understand it according to the  
Waikato Times 
 we have a situation even within my own city. The editorial of 26 September expressed that it was not in favour of raising the driving age. It made some very interesting points with regard to praising Harry Duynhoven in terms of his work around trying to address the issue of boy racers and on his call for third-party insurance to be made compulsory. It quoted Harry as saying that the move would provide an incentive to drive safely because blemishes to driving records will push up the premiums and high premiums will discourage younger drivers from buying high-powered cars. 
That is one of the raft of issues that need to be addressed in the context of driving age. It is not just a simple issue for the select committee members to say we should increase the driving age from 15 to 16; there are other issues to consider. Also I have to say with cynicism that for years and years bureaucrats in this country advised me why we could not have compulsory third-party insurance. I remember meeting constituents and giving them those bureaucratic reasons when in fact my own heart was saying: “Wait a minute; I agree with Harry.” I thank Harry Duynhoven for putting that particular issue back on the agenda. Some of the bureaucrats might listen frankly to how we should be doing something about the issue. It is so logical that we have third-party insurance. Again it is something that will hit people where it counts—in the pocket. 
 On the other hand just to give an illustration of the range of views on the issue a few days later on Monday 8 October 2007 a headline in the  
Waikato Times 
 stated: “Top cop backs driving age lift”. Inspector Leo Tooman is the region’s road policing manager. David Nanaia and I all know Leo very well—along with my good friend Sue Moroney who will be on the select committee. He is well respected. He is quoted as saying that “lifting the minimum driving age from 15 to 16 not only made sense from a safety perspective but would bring the country more into line with the rest of the world. No other country in the rest of the Western world has a driving age lower than 16.” 
A telephone poll conducted in Hamilton by the  
Waikato Times 
 of a random group of people showed that 75 percent of people agreed that the driving age be raised with most people wanting the age to be lifted to 18. Again that is just an example from my own city of the variety of views on the subject. At the moment on the face of it there is a huge groundswell of support to raise the age at which young people can start to learn to drive. Some people are even looking beyond the age of 16 to 18 years. 
I think the Hon Peter Dunne has done a huge service in getting this issue back on to the parliamentary agenda. We have all read some horrific statistics not just of say 15-year-olds who are experiencing fatalities but also of some terrible tragedies as a result of in some cases mad wantonly reckless driving often by young people. In other cases decent wonderful lovely young people have just made a misjudgment through lack of experience but are really lovely kids. It is every parent’s and grandparent’s absolute nightmare. These kids are in the wrong place at the wrong time and have a momentary lack of judgment. 
That also raises the issue of the review of the way in which young people learn to drive—for example the length of time taken to get the learner licence. What should be the conditions to enable a learner driver to start to drive? What should be the terms and conditions around the restricted licence? 
My children will not be listening to this—and they certainly will not be watching the Parliament channel on Sky so they will not see this—but I have to say as a parent that extending the curfew has great appeal. The biggest worry parents have when young people go from a restricted licence to a full licence is that they can drive around the clock. I quite like the 11 o’clock curfew. 
One of the other things that I think we really need to look at—and I refer to the announcement by Ministers Mark Burton and Damien O’Connor—is the review of under-age drinking. As members know I sponsored a bill to raise the drinking age from 18 to 20 years but Parliament in its wisdom exercised its right to vote against that bill hoping that the compromise measures forecast by the two Ministers would move us into a much better frame and a much better environment in relation to the serious disturbing binge-drinking culture amongst teenagers in this country. I am not referring just to the under 18-year-olds but also to the under 20-year-olds in that context. 
One of the issues I think the select committee needs to look at is the proposal to have a zero alcohol limit for any person under 20 on a restricted driver’s licence. In addition to the debate about whether we raise the age at which young people can start to learn to drive from 15 to 16 years maybe we should debate whether we should have a zero drink-drive limit for every person in this country aged under 20 years who drives a motor vehicle. Maybe that is a discussion we need to have. 
Along with the other speakers in this debate I acknowledge that just on its own raising the driving age from 15 to 16 years is not the cure-all. It is not a magic bullet or the total answer; it has to be seen in the context of other measures. I hope the select committee and its researchers have a comprehensive micro-look at the individual states of Australia and at the social and road safety impacts of its driver licensing. If any country is a rural country then it is Australia. It has huge rural distances and issues with some of its young people getting from A to B in those far-flung rural communities. 
We have great commonality with Australia. I would be genuinely interested to know whether those states give exemptions what the dynamics are what research has been done and whether there are gains or losses given the fact that Australia’s statistics are better than ours. However having said that I point out that Australia’s statistics may reflect that it is a much more urbanised country in terms of the fact that most Australians live in the big metropolitan areas. What are the rural road safety statistics? What are the rural young driver statistics? I think there are some issues there to consider. And what is the situation in Sweden the United Kingdom and in other countries that have better statistics than us? 
In summary this bill is a very very good starting point to revisit the whole issue of road safety for our younger people. Thank you. 
Bill read a first time.  
Bill referred to the Transport and Industrial Relations Committee.