weekly hansard - Queensland Parliament - Queensland Government

2578 Transport Legislation Amendment Bill 23 Aug 2005
The bill will improve safety on our roads and at sea. It will reduce the pollution of Queensland
waters. It will enhance existing legislation to protect the most vulnerable in our society, and it will
introduce minor changes to clarify or improve existing legislation. The acts to be amended are: the
Transport Infrastructure Act 1994, the Transport Operations (Marine Pollution) Act 1995, the Transport
Operations (Marine Safety) Act 1994, the Transport Operations (Passenger Transport) Act 1994, the
Transport Operations (Road Use Management) Act 1995, the Transport Planning and Coordination Act
1994, the Transport (South Bank Corporation Area Land) Act 1999, the Commission for Children and
Young People and Child Guardian Act 2000, the Integrated Planning Act 1997, the South Bank
Corporation Act 1989 and the Transport Infrastructure Act 1994.
The Transport Infrastructure Act 1994 provides for the efficient management of transport
infrastructure. The amendments to this act clarify or improve existing legislation. They do not change
the intent of the legislation. In broad terms, the changes relate to tolling, port authorities, busways,
miscellaneous transport infrastructure and non-rail corridor land. I will deal with each of these issues in
turn.
Tolling
The new tolling provisions remove any doubt that gazetted toll charges only provide for the
maximum that can be collected by toll operators and do not prevent a lower toll being collected. This
does not reflect a change in policy. Occasions have arisen, and no doubt will continue to arise, where
there are good reasons to impose less than the maximum amount in certain circumstances—for
example, to encourage more people using toll roads off peak.
I would like to make it clear that the amendment will not allow toll operators to collect tolls above
the gazetted amount. It will only offer the operators the flexibility to collect amounts less than the
toll amounts that are notified by gazette. The amendments will enhance the amenity and safety of road
users. New South Wales has adopted a similar approach in its tolling legislation as it specifically
provides that the amount of any toll may not exceed a prescribed amount.
Port Authorities
Let me turn to the changes in the bill dealing with port authorities. A port can be established as a
body corporate under the Transport Infrastructure Act 1994 or as a government owned corporation.
Currently, all ports are government owned corporations. However, when we amalgamated the
Gladstone Port Authority and Rockhampton Port Authority last year to form the Central Queensland
Ports Authority, the assets and liabilities had to be transferred under both the Transport Infrastructure
Act 1994 and the Government Owned Corporations Act 1993. The bill will clarify that TIA provisions for
establishment and abolition of a port authority do not apply where a port authority is a government
owned corporation. The only exception relates to the transfer of management of the port, which cannot
be achieved under the Government Owned Corporations Act 1993.
The bill will also remove any reference to specific port authorities in the definition of ‘port
authority’. This will enable a port authority to be restructured or its name changed by regulation without
the need for further amendment to the act.
Busways
The bill introduces a number of amendments relating to busways. One change will clarify that
various types of land held by the state may be declared to be ‘busway land’. Currently land may be
declared to be busway land only if it is acquired by the state or the chief executive for busway purposes
or is a road. It is not clear that it includes other land already owned by the state. I seek leave to have the
remainder of my second reading speech incorporated in Hansard.
Leave granted.
This amendment will clarify that a broader range of land can be declared busway land, including land that the State already holds
for busway purposes, but originally acquired for purposes other than busway. The amendments also make provisions for common
areas for busways and roads.
Currently, the Transport Infrastructure (Busway) Regulation 2002 provides for the appointment and powers of busway safety
officers. This Bill places these provisions in the Act as well as clarifying other powers of busway safety officers for general
consistency with the powers of authorised persons in other transport legislation.
The role of busway safety officers includes ensuring the orderly movement of people on the busway, managing busway traffic in
accordance with speed limits, removing obstructions from the busway and generally ensuring the busway is safe for commuters
and all other busway users. These powers are consistent with the powers of authorised persons but are restricted to the busway
transport infrastructure and are generally more limited. For example, busway safety officers are not intended to have an
enforcement role on buses and do not validate or check tickets like authorised persons.
For those of you who use the busway, these are the men and women in green shirts with the red busway logo who attend busway
stations and patrol the busway. They answer the help phones, assist distressed or worried passengers and keep an oversight on
what is actually happening on the busway stations and busway.
Busway safety officers can reach any point on the busway within five to ten minutes of a call or alarm.
The amendments now ensure that busway safety officers have fundamental powers like authorised persons, to request name and
address details of offenders, are protected from liability and include a specific offence for impersonating and obstructing a busway
safety officer. To reflect current drafting, the provisions about busway safety officers are now included in the Act to ensure there is
a clear legislative basis for their appointment and powers.