10 FEBRUARY 2016 www.hansard.act.gov.au Wednesday, 10 February 2016 Road Transport (Safety and Traffic Management) (Autonomous Vehicle Trials) Amendment Bill 2016 .......................................................................................... 103 Transport—light rail .................................................................................................. 105 Restorative justice ...................................................................................................... 122 Royal Commission into Trade Union Governance and Corruption ........................... 136 Questions without notice: Ministerial office—investigation .................................................................... 144 Ministerial office—investigation .................................................................... 144 Director of Public Prosecutions—resourcing ................................................. 145 Hospitals—University of Canberra ................................................................ 147 Williamsdale solar farm .................................................................................. 149 Ministers—code of conduct ............................................................................ 152 Trade unions—CFMEU ................................................................................. 152 Health—elective surgery ................................................................................ 153 Economy—higher education .......................................................................... 155 Royal Commission into Trade Union Governance and Corruption ........................... 159 Radio Print Handicapped ........................................................................................... 164 Multicultural communities ......................................................................................... 175 Tuggeranong—ambient odours ................................................................................. 184 Adjournment: Cancer Support Group ACT Eden Monaro’s Own—fundraiser .................... 196 Ms Kate Carnell .............................................................................................. 197 World Radio Day ............................................................................................ 198 Companion House .......................................................................................... 199 Foreign aid—Laos .......................................................................................... 200 Legislative Assembly for the ACT Wednesday, 10 February 2016 MADAM SPEAKER (Mrs Dunne) took the chair at 10 am and asked members to stand in silence and pray or reflect on their responsibilities to the people of the Australian Capital Territory. Road Transport (Safety and Traffic Management) (Autonomous Vehicle Trials) Amendment Bill 2016 Mr Coe, pursuant to notice, presented the bill and its explanatory statement. Title read by Clerk. MR COE (Ginninderra) (10.01): I move: That this bill be agreed to in principle. The Canberra Liberals believe that autonomous vehicles will be a vital component of the future of transport in Canberra. The legislation I have presented today provides for the safe and legal testing of autonomous vehicles in Canberra. It is the first step to allowing autonomous vehicles to drive on our roads. The reality in Canberra is that we are a dispersed city. The very attributes which make this city the garden city, with so much open space and nature on our doorstep, also provide a significant challenge for transportation. This reality is starkly presented in the ACT government’s proposed light rail project. Despite many hundreds of millions of dollars in proposed expenditure and 12 kilometres of track between Gungahlin and the city, just a few per cent of Canberra’s population are within walking distance. In fact, in the vast majority of cities in the world, it would be nearly impossible to build a line of track for 12 kilometres in an urban area and serve a smaller portion of the population. The truth is that our city has been designed for private transportation, that is, vehicles that go from point A to point B at the demand of the driver. Autonomous vehicles are an exciting prospect and something that we in Canberra should be excited about. Imagine a city where people are not disadvantaged because of where they live. Imagine a city where people with disabilities have access to reliable, on-demand and affordable transportation 24/7. Imagine a city where people do not need to own cars or have garages because they can book an autonomous vehicle from their club or cooperative. Imagine vehicles knowing definitively the optimal route and time of travel in order to maximise efficiency. Imagine a city that needs only a fraction of the number of cars because of the high utilisation of each autonomous vehicle. Imagine a time when considerably less car parking is required because autonomous vehicles continue to travel on another journey after that first journey is complete. All of this is very much a reality. The former corporate vice president of research and development at General Motors in the United States said: 103 10 February 2016 Legislative Assembly for the ACT Australia’s population densities are perfectly suited … and one city in particular that stands out is Canberra. As a small jurisdiction with a good road network and a dispersed population, we will be a beneficiary of this technology, and the Canberra Liberals want to get on board. Rather than committing to fixed tram infrastructure that will service only a small portion of the population at slower speeds than current buses, we want to truly embrace the future of transport. Autonomous vehicles are currently being developed by the world’s largest automobile manufacturers, including Tesla, Audi, General Motors, Ford, Hyundai and Volvo, to name a few. Mercedes-Benz is also developing an autonomous vehicle, with a new E-class model to be released next year that can speed up, change lanes and overtake at the press of a button. Tesla and Nissan are confident of releasing an autonomous vehicle in the next five years. Google, the search engine giant, is also working on an autonomous vehicle, whilst Apple is rumoured to be working on some form of vehicle too. Here in Canberra we have companies such as Seeing Machines which are at the cutting edge of this technology. Through their work in the mining industry, with automobiles and in other fields, the work they are doing to make vehicles safer and more efficient is truly extraordinary and should be celebrated. But beyond the celebration we should be harnessing their work. That is why the Canberra Liberals want to be at the forefront of this advancement. We want Canberra to be open for business. We want to be able to say to the world’s vehicle manufacturers and associated industries that Canberra wants your skills, technology and investment. Further to this, Canberrans such as Kent Fitch have investigated in considerable depth the benefits of autonomous vehicles to Canberra. I encourage members to visit his website at projectcomputing.com.au to explore exactly what autonomous vehicles will mean for Canberra and the extraordinary optimisation we as a community can realise. I also note the work that the Canberra Business Council are doing in this space. They have established a subcommittee to explore exactly how Canberra can benefit from this transformative technology. Every day there are news stories from all over the world about the progress which is being made in this space. Many Australian companies are studying the progress of autonomous vehicle technology and planning for their introduction. Accenture’s Realising the benefits of autonomous vehicles in Australia report is one such document which details the benefits to our communities of this very real technology. As stated in this 2014 report authored by Dave Maunsell, Praveen Tanguturi and James Hogarth: No longer a science fiction vision, autonomous vehicles are already being actively used in industries such as mining and are expected to become a mainstream consumer phenomenon in Australia within a decade. 104 Legislative Assembly for the ACT 10 February 2016 … Australia needs to create an open and connected environment. Such a setting should welcome and accommodate innovative self-driving cars and other forms of advanced transport.” This legislation is the start of the journey. I know that there will be some who are cautious or even sceptical about this technology. However, I believe this can be overcome. There are, of course, insurance, privacy, technological and safety issues which need to be considered. The bill I have presented allows for the testing of autonomous vehicles in the ACT. The bill permits the minister to approve, or refuse to approve, an autonomous vehicle trial. To approve a trial the minister must be satisfied that the applicant is able to comply with the following conditions: (1), the operator of the vehicle must hold a current drivers licence; (2), the operator of the vehicle is in the driver’s seat at all times; (3), the vehicle has an easily accessible mechanism to engage and disengage the autonomous system; (4), the vehicle has a visual indicator inside the vehicle to indicate when the autonomous system is engaged and disengaged; (5), the vehicle has a failure alert system which tells the operator when a failure is detected and allows the operator to take immediate control of the vehicle, and if the operator cannot