NSW Labor leader Chris Minns slams $150k plan to what find out what motorists think about speed cameras

NSW Labor leader Chris Minns has slammed the Perrottet government’s plan to spend $150,000 on a series of surveys he claims will tell them “what everybody already knows”. A marketing research agency has been commissioned to undertake six surveys over three years, at a cost of more than $150,000, to find out what the public thinks about red light cameras, speed cameras and mobile phone detection cameras. It comes a week after the Parliament’s road safety committee condemned a partial backflip on installing warning signs on the top of mobile speed cameras. “Visible signage should be used to warn drivers of the camera’s presence and notify them of the posted speed limit,” the committee said. Mr Minns told 2GB radio breakfast host Ben Fordham it will just “tell the NSW government what everybody already knows”. “This sort of money should be put into black spot funding on our road network, not into focus groups,” he said. Mr Minns said there has been a 1000 per cent increase in the amount of low range speeding fines being issued across the state of NSW. “It’s coming right out of the pockets of families, especially in western Sydney, right when they can’t afford it,” he said. Low range speeding fines have increased by $47 million, accounting for more than 60 per cent of total speeding fine revenue across the network in 2021. January reported the highest amount of revenue collected from speed cameras in one month in the history of record collection. “The old way was about making sure people didn‘t commit an offence in the first place, rather than receiving a fine in the mail two or three weeks after the offence has been committed”, Mr Minns said. The Labor leader said it’s “self-evident” there is broad support for mobile phone detection cameras and highway patrol officers. He claimed receiving a fine in the mail two weeks after a speeding offence has been committed – sometimes for travelling just 2-3km over the speed limit – is not an effective means of reducing speed on the state’s roads. “We think it’s revenue raising and the fine should be reversed,” Mr Minns said. “For some reason the Minister seems to be gripped with inertia and unable to make a commonsense decision that has broad public support in this state.” Nationals upper house MP Wes Fang said while it was a hefty price for surveys, it would be worth the cost if it affirmed motorists’ widespread anger on the issue. “Yes, it is a lot of money, but it is an opportunity to further reinforce to the government that motorists are unhappy,” Mr Fang said.