AAA declares Budget 2017-18 a ‘win’ for Australian road safety

The Australian Automobile Association (AAA) says the 2017-18 Budget is a win for road safety with $16 million in new funding provided for the keys2drive learner driver program and the announcement of a national inquiry into the National Road Safety Strategy.

The AAA has also welcomed the Federal Budget’s strong focus on transport infrastructure. The Budget will increase its total funding and financing commitments to transport infrastructure projects to more than $70 billion from 2013-14 to 2020-21 including $8.4 billion in equity in inland rail and other major projects.

AAA Chief Executive Michael Bradley said: “The failings of Australia’s current National Road Safety Strategy have been of concern to the AAA for some time and we look forward to playing an active role in the announced inquiry.

“Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Darren Chester, is to be commended for continuing to make road safety a priority and for showing national leadership on an issue that is so important to so many Australian families.”

The $16 million of new funding provided to the keys2drive program has the strong backing of Australia’s motoring clubs and the AAA says it looks forward to working with the Government to understand how its proposal of co-funding might operate.

“The decision by the Australian Government to fund keys2drive in the Budget means tens of thousands more families will benefit from this program, and that our roads will be safer for all Australians,” Mr Bradley said.

While the AAA welcomed the focus on road safety and infrastructure is welcome, it expressed disappointment that the Government will continue to collect importation taxes on vehicles, forcing Australians to pay an extra $4.7 billion for newer, cleaner and safer cars.

The AAA said it also remains concerned about the proportion of fuel excise returned to land transport infrastructure investment.

“Motorists continue to pay more in fuel excise yet will see fewer of those dollars returned to them in the form of better land transport infrastructure in coming years. This underscores the need for the Government to continue with the work of developing a more transparent, fairer and more sustainable model to fund land transport infrastructure. We are particularly pleased to see funding committed to Infrastructure Australia to progress this process in the Budget,” Mr Bradley said.