Almost 75,000 angry Queensland motorists have hit out at Labor’s plans to double the cost of driver licences with the roll-out of the new “smart” licence next year, the LNP said today.
Shadow Minister for Transport Fiona Simpson will table an e-petition in Parliament against the increased cost of a five-year driver’s licence, which is set to increase from $73.30 to $152.50.
The e-petition which closes tomorrow can be found under the Parliamentary website - (http://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/view/EPetitions_qld/CurrentEPetition.aspx?PetNum=1428).
“This increase is yet another rise in the cost of living for families and businesses who are already struggling with the multitude of increased taxes, charges and fees this government has created.
"It comes on top of further registration increases, higher tolls, fares and higher petrol prices since the introduction of the fuel tax.
"The Bligh Labor Government has made Queensland the most expensive state in Australia to own and run a car and Queenslanders are not happy about it,” Ms Simpson said.
“Queenslanders just want to a licence to drive a car; they don’t want to pay for Bligh Government blunders. This licence project has already blown its budget from $20 million to $112 million since it was first raised by Labor in 2002.
"This government still can't answer straight forward questions about what information will be stored on the micro chip and who will have access to this information, but they can waste $112 million to make Queensland driver’s licences “look good”.
"Labor couldn’t answer these questions when this matter was debated in Parliament in 2008 and they still can’t answer these questions today.
“Simply to make the licences look more modern is hardly a legitimate reason in the current climate to spend $112 million of tax payers’ money. They’ve failed to demonstrate that blowing their budget is justified for what taxpayers get in return,” Ms Simpson said.
“At a time when Bligh and Labor have a record state debt rising to more than $85 billion, it's clear that 75,000 motorists agree their money could be far better spent. However, the State Labor Government isn’t even sorry that they blundered on the project’s budget. So they’ve learned nothing and will keep making the same mistakes.”