Shadow Minister for Police Peter Katsambanis has called on the Minister for Police to stop playing petty political games on serious road safety issues to cover up her own poorly drafted legislation.
“The Liberal Party did not block or oppose the Road Traffic Amendment (Impaired Driving and Penalties) Bill,” Mr Katsambanis said.
“In fact, we offered the Minister speedy passage of the critical drug-driving provisions in the Bill, which she sadly rejected. They were the main focus of the proposed legislation. The radar detector ban was always a secondary consideration.
“The Liberal Party pointed out way back in November 2019 that the McGowan Labor Government’s proposed method of banning radar detectors on WA roads was flawed.
“The clause, as drafted, was so wide and open-ended it would allow any Minister in the future to ban almost any device in any motor vehicle, including popular GPS navigation systems.
“The Bill passed the Lower House in November 2019. After sitting in the Upper House for almost six months the Minister has now finally addressed the obvious flaw that could have been fixed last year.
“Now that she has effectively agreed with the Liberal Party position she should thank us for helping to fix her flawed legislation, instead of continuing to play politics with important road safety initiatives.”