MEMBER for Northern Victoria Tania Maxwell has backed a call from the Police Association Victoria for all patrol cars to be equipped with drug-testing kits.
Ms Maxwell said she worked on the issue with former Police Minister Lisa Neville in October 2019, and it was the first agenda item in a recent meeting with new minister Anthony Carbines.
“The Parliamentary Budget Office undertook a couple of costing analyses for us in relation to drug-testing, including the training of all police to carry out testing and assessing the prevalence of illegal drug use in road fatalities,” Ms Maxwell said.
“To intercept and penalise a drug driver – if not at a roadblock – police need to call in highway patrol to administer a drug test and physically see the offender driving.
“At the very least, we want this legal loophole closed so that police can respond more quickly to intercept a potentially dangerous driver.
“Our analysis has found that evidence of illegal drug use is present in around 31 per cent of all road fatalities, so we welcome the Police Association call.
“Expanded testing for drug-driving would improve safety on our roads.”
Derryn Hinch’s Justice Party is also calling for public reporting of police response times.
Ms Maxwell encouraged the government in a question in Parliament on May 24 to mandate response time reporting, noting it more than a decade had passed since it was recommended by former Victoria Police Deputy Commissioner Bob Falconer.
“The response from the Minister for Police noted that response times will vary depending on a range of factors, including the proximity of police and the distance they need to travel,” she said. “But public response times are a key reporting measure for other emergency agencies, including ambulance and fire services, and should be required of Victoria Police.”
Ms Maxwell said that she and Western Victoria colleague Stuart Grimley would be raising these matters with Mr Carbines in a meeting during the next parliamentary sitting, beginning August 30.
