26 Feb Survival of roadworthy stations at the mercy of costly government legislation

The Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads (DTMR) is facing severe criticism from Katter’s Australian Party (KAP) Leader and Traeger MP, Mr Robbie Katter, over the proposed changes to existing legislation that will threaten the survival of hundreds of family-owned roadworthy stations across regional Queensland.

The vehicle inspection industry, a vital component of Queensland’s road safety system, is grappling with bureaucratic absurdity as the DTMR pushes forward with baffling decision-making by proposing the re-training and re-assessment of existing inspectors as the solution to stop the increasing number of shady inspection stations passing unroadworthy vehicles onto Queensland roads.

Mr Katter, who is deeply vested in safeguarding rural access to essential services, expressed his concern about the potential impact on businesses delivering crucial automotive services in regional Queensland.

“The government is spending their time putting more paperwork on the roadworthy stations that do comply and this is creating an extra cost burden with no extra value to add and not getting the government any closer in catching the dodgy operators,” Mr Katter said.

“There are not many roadworthy stations left in North West Queensland and being a marginal business, the only thing this new regulation is going to do is force more roadworthy stations out of the market and cause people, particularly those in North and North West Queensland, to travel even greater distances, costing them more time and money for this essential service.”

Mr Katter is astonished that compliance audits conducted on existing roadworthy stations by the DTMR do not include actual assessments of vehicle inspections or vehicles that have passed an inspection.

“This glaring negligence by DTMR carries serious repercussions as I have been informed by multiple roadworthy stations of a concerning rise in the number of unroadworthy vehicles seeking inspection after being “passed” at other inspection stations,” he said.

“We do have an issue with roadworthy inspectors who are dodgy operators who are passing vehicles that competent mechanics will not, but the government is not chasing them.

“The proposed legislation is a rather inadequate effort by the DTMR to safeguard Queensland Road users.

“I am calling on the Minister for Transport and Main Roads to cancel this ill-conceived regulation and to focus on finding a more effective and practical approach to ensuring inspector compliance while promptly addressing the issue with dodgy operators in the industry.”

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