Probationary driving age
Brad BATTIN (Berwick) (09:45): Children and young people here in Victoria are treated differently when it comes to driving and getting their licence than in any other state in this country. I think it is vital that we start to consider why 17-year-olds cannot get their licence in Victoria but just across the border they can get their licence. It impacts particularly in regional areas with young people trying to get to education or a job. If you have got an apprenticeship, you need to get your vehicle and get your licence as soon as you can. In metropolitan areas, young people cannot take tools on a bus or a train. Some of these young kids who want to get out of the education system and into a trade where we need people do not have the accessibility to get a licence, which makes it harder to get a job. We are asking our community: what do you think? Do you think we should reduce the age to 17 and change it so it is away from the same age that you can start drinking? Do you think we should be on par with the rest of the country? And it will not impact on the fact that every child will still have to do 120 hours, because we know the 120 hours is a very important aspect of the training and education to improve safety on our roads.
I am going to call on the government continuously between now and the next election. We have to strongly consider treating young people here the same, because if you are in Wodonga, you cannot get your licence, which makes it difficult to get a job up against a young person who is from Albury who can get their licence at 17, and that is simply unfair on young people here in Victoria.