Transcript - Weekend Today

TIM DAVIES: Well, as many Aussies prepare to pack the car to head out on a road trip these holidays, a brand new campaign is this morning being launched to kerb Australia's rising road toll.

TV AD: If you wouldn't do it here. Why do it in a car? 

SOPHIE WALSH: It's pretty powerful. And for more, we are joined by Federal Transport Minister Catherine King, live in Brisbane. Thank you joining us, Minister. More than 1300 people will be missing from Christmas dinner tables this year. Killed in road accidents. Why is that number continuing to climb year on year? 

CATHERINE KING: Well, there's a range of reasons that that's been happening. But speed continues to be the largest factor. But also there are lots of drivers who really believe they are safe drivers. And generally they are, but and don't really identify with some of the behaviours that you'll see in the ad that might cause accidents. So, you see someone walking up closely behind someone representing tailgating, distractions on a mobile phone, getting a bit angry at learner drivers, those sorts of things. And a lot of drivers don't identify that those are behaviours that really are them and that their values don't reflect that. So really, what the ad campaign is designed to do is to get people to have a bit of a think about, you know, if you don't do it on the street, if you don't, you know, tailgate someone when you're walking behind them, why would you do it in a car? So it's really trying to target that driver behaviour. Of course, you know conditions of our roads. Also, it's a reason why the federal government is investing an extra $500 million doubling roads to recovery. So, every council can start to, you know, make sure it does its bit by funding its local roads that we drive on all the time. We've seen 2000 projects started just since we started increasing that money. So, there's lots of factors. But really this ad is designed to get people to have a bit of a think just before the Christmas period, when we know there are a lot more people driving on our roads. We want everybody to arrive at their Christmas family lunch safely and come home safely.

TIM DAVIES: Yeah, absolutely, indeed we do. I mean, that figure, Minister, that Sophie said 1300 people missing from the Christmas table this year. I mean, this research, it's really telling us that so many of us are when we get behind that wheel, we've become complacent, haven't we? We really need to take stock of the fact that we are driving, you know, and we have lives in our hands. 

CATHERINE KING: Absolutely. And that's really what this is designed to do. As we've said, a lot of drivers don't necessarily identify that they may be engaging in these sorts of things. You know, they're you know, we're mums, we're dads, we're daughters, we're sons. We're, you know, people who go about our lives. But you get behind the wheel of a car and sometimes people just engage in things that they may not think are dangerous, but they are often the things that actually will, in the blink of an eye, lead to an accident. Whether it's tailgating, whether it's just going that little bit too fast, whether it's getting on your mobile phone. Those are the things that we know actually do lead to accidents. And we really this is about trying to get people to have a bit of a think about what your values are, and if you wouldn't do it on the street, why do it in a car during the holidays?

SOPHIE WALSH: A lot of us will be hitting the roads. I'm going to be driving down to Canberra. It always makes me quite anxious, particularly around Christmas time, because I think there are so many people out there on the roads and even if you're doing the right thing, doesn't guarantee that other people are doing the right thing, how do we keep ourselves safe? 

CATHERINE KING: Well, it's a shared responsibility, you know, really, we know that safer roads are really important. So that's why we're investing more and more money on really trying to fix our roads. We know that 2022 was a really bad year for weather, and we're seeing that again. And up in Brisbane today, yesterday it was pretty wet. And so that's not great for our roads. So, trying to keep on top of road maintenance. That's why we've put more money into that as well. But making sure our cars are as safe as possible, they're getting safer and then also making sure we've got really safe people. So safe systems, safe cars and safe roads and safe people are really important. And that's really what it is. But it's a shared responsibility and trying to just increase awareness. This is the first time in a long time we've actually had a national road safety campaign. It's something state and territory transport ministers asked the Albanese government to do. So that's what we're putting out today. But really it's a shared responsibility. We want everybody to come home safely. And, you know, I'm travelling over the Christmas period as well. My husband and son are in Hobart and travelling around Tassie at the moment. You know all of that. We all want all our families to be safe. So just have a bit of a think about it as you're driving and make sure that you're actually doing the right thing by all of the people who are around you as well. 

TIM DAVIES: Yeah, really important campaign. Minister, while we've also got you as the federal infrastructure minister as well, you're joining us from the host city of the 2032 Olympics. I have to ask you, the state government right now reviewing all of the plans for the games. Do you support a rebuild of the Gabba Stadium? CATHERINE KING: Well, look, I'm going to let the 100 day review do its work. Obviously, the Commonwealth's put in a capped contribution 2.5 to build the Brisbane Arena, which is the venue for the swimming. But we'll leave a great legacy of an entertainment venue here in Brisbane, which we know is much needed for those larger scale events, whether it's basketball or Taylor Swift concerts. And then also we're putting just under $1 billion into about 16 minor venues, which again, are really important. So, we'll let the review do its work and then make an assessment about where the Commonwealth investment lies From there. We are concerned a bit about delays. We know that Olympic projects are one of the infrastructure projects that blow out a lot in costs and a lot in time. So really the new Queensland Government once the reviews done, does need to get a wriggle on, and it needs to make sure that it's not only leaving a legacy, but it's also making sure that those costs are kept under control. And we'll be keeping a close eye on that. 

TIM DAVIES: Yeah. On that. How much pressure are you keeping on the state government about that? We've seen the problems that they've had with the Cross River Rail project there in Brisbane. We don't want the Olympics from a national perspective as well to fall flat. So how important is it for you from a federal perspective to stay on to the state government?

CATHERINE KING: Well, we really want to make sure that they have a terrific games. But part of the new norms of the Olympics is really to make sure that, you know, you're not spending a huge amount of money on venues and that you're actually doing what you can with existing venues as much as possible, and that you're improving your infrastructure that people use every single day along the way. So those new norms as part of the Olympics are very important. They're very important to keep the social licence of the Olympics, because people want to make sure that their taxpayer dollars are going to things that will be used afterwards as well. So, we'll be keeping a very close eye. Obviously, we've got an intergovernmental agreement with the Queensland Government that says, you know, how we'll spend our money and what we'll do, but we'll let the review do its work. That's the Queensland Government's been elected with a mandate to do that. We'll let that review do its work and then we'll make any decisions from there. I know there are going to be a lot of sporting groups, a lot of people coming to the government and coming to the reviewers, wanting brand new facilities, wanting a whole range of things. But really those new norms are really important, making sure you're leaving a legacy, but it's infrastructure that benefits all of Queensland as well as all of Australia. And that's what the Commonwealth will be looking at as we go forward. 

SOPHIE WALSH: Minister, thank you for joining us on the show this morning, wishing you a very safe and merry Christmas.