Mr WETTENHALL (Thursday 25 March 2010) (12.30 pm): Most members in contributing to this debate have demonstrated that they have little sympathy for people who drive under the influence of liquor and who put other people's lives at risk, and I share those views. In the 12 months to 30 June 2008, 29,000 people were convicted of drink-driving offences in Queensland and 12,000 of those were repeat offenders
who had a blood alcohol concentration higher than .15. Not only do drink drivers put lives at risk; they kill people.

Between July 2001 and June 2009, 609 people died in Queensland in crashes involving drink drivers. In 2009 there were 71 alcohol related road fatalities-21½ per cent of the entire 2009 road toll.

That is an appalling and avoidable loss of life. Thousands more are hospitalised, many with catastrophic and life-changing injuries.

In Cairns drink driving is a major problem. Drink driving was identified as a major concern at last year's regional road safety summit in Cairns which I convened.

In research that was commissioned for that summit, 31 per cent of respondents in a random survey and 15 per cent in a community consultation
nominated drink driving second only to speeding as their major concern in relation to road safety.

At the time of the summit, conducted in November 2009, 12,796 random breath tests were conducted in the Cairns, Innisfail and Mareeba police districts. By 30 June 2009, the first six months of that year, 1,517 drink-driving convictions were recorded in the region. In fact, in Far North Queensland 36 repeat drink drivers were apprehended in 2007, 50 in 2008 and 32 in the period from January to November 2009. Between January and June 2009 in Far North Queensland there were four fatalities involving drink drivers or riders, representing at that time 17 per cent of the region's road toll for 2009.

In the same period for the whole of Queensland there were 37 fatalities involving drink drivers or riders, representing 21 per cent of the road toll.

On average, drink drivers tend to be involved in approximately a quarter of fatal crashes on Queensland roads.

No-one who drives a car with a blood alcohol concentration of .15 or higher can claim with any credibility at all that they did so without being aware they were intoxicated.

Research indicates that crash risk rises exponentially with increased breath and blood alcohol concentration. Drivers and motorcyclists have twice the risk of a serious crash with a BAC of .05 than at zero, and the risk rises steeply at higher levels of intoxication.

No-one who drink-drives at any level after having been previously convicted of a drink-driving offence can claim with credibility that they are not aware of the risks to others and themselves of drink driving and the legal consequences to themselves of doing so.

The carnage, trauma and tragedy of road crashes demands the constant attention of government to trial and introduce new measures to improve road safety, and the introduction of alcohol interlock devices is one further step in the evolution of our road safety system.

The bill establishes an administrative scheme that will impose an alcohol interlock licence condition following a period of disqualification associated with convictions for driving with a blood alcohol concentration of .15 or higher, failing to supply a specimen of breath and certain other drink-driving offences, and for repeat offenders.

The interlock condition will state that the person may only drive a vehicle fitted with an interlock device to a nominated vehicle or vehicles, and this feature of the bill will allow work vehicles to be nominated, and the condition will remain on the licence for 12 months.

Tough penalties will apply to persons who are subject to an interlock condition who drive a vehicle not fitted with a device or who tamper with the device, including extending the period of the interlock condition. All interlock drivers will be subject to a zero-alcohol limit.

Exemptions will be available to persons in rural and remote areas who cannot practically access an interlock installer, for medical reasons or in circumstances of hardship. There will be a fee charged to have the interlock condition imposed and there will be substantial costs involved in having the interlock device installed.

It is quite reasonable that drink drivers will pay the price for their past behaviour and to enjoy the privilege of being a licensed driver in Queensland.

The bill also extends the zero-alcohol limit to all learner, provisional, probationary and unlicensed drivers regardless of age and to all motorcycle riders for the first 12 months of holding a motorcycle licence.

The bill also brings important changes to the law regarding heavy vehicles. In Far North Queensland between January and September 2009 there were five fatalities as a result of crashes involving heavy freight vehicles.

Over the same period state-wide, there were 45 fatalities as a result of crashes involving heavy freight vehicles. Reforms in the bill are designed to reduce pressure on drivers to speed to meet unrealistic or, indeed, impossible delivery deadlines and to reduce the number of road crashes involving heavy vehicles.

In conclusion, I commend the minister for introducing these important reforms and acknowledge her departmental officials, who are dedicated to making our roads safer for all who use them.