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Radio host Ben Fordham has reprimanded NSW’s Road Secretary Natalie Ward about her “proud” of overseeing a $9 million road trip back on speed camera warning signs.
In a fiery interview with Ms Ward, Fordham took aim at the NSW government’s precious flip-flop of removing warning signs around mobile speed cameras, but was forced to put them back in place by outcry from the community.
Fordham accused the state government of wasting $9 million to close the loop.
Sydney radio host Ben Fordham has demanded an apology from NSW Roads Minister Natalie Ward for costly backflip on mobile speed camera warning signs
“I wouldn’t say that’s wasting, I’d say it’s listening to the community,” Mrs Ward threw back.
“We heard loud and clear from the community that they wanted those signs back.
‘We want to find that balance between getting people on the road safely and giving them the opportunity to adjust their behaviour.
‘We listened to that. We acted on it. That’s what good government does.’
The removal of warning signs around NSW speed cameras two years ago led to a staggering 750 percent increase in low mileage violations, with drivers driving 10 km/h or less over the limit, resulting in a $45 million fine.
Ms Ward said she “wouldn’t like to get a single dollar from speeding tickets” and claimed it wasn’t revenue because the money went toward paying for driver training and road safety programs.
NSW Roads Minister Natalie Ward insisted she was proud of ‘listening to the community’, but that came at a price
“I am proud that we are a government that listens and can adjust its policies to give drivers the opportunity to change their behavior on the road,” she said.
“I just wanted to make sure we give drivers the opportunity to change their driving habits while on the road, not three weeks later when they get a fine in the mail.”
Before reverting to the original policy, the NSW government attempted to place 1000 speed camera warning signs in random places across the state and then put up speed camera signs on the vehicles, which drivers didn’t see until it was too late.
Fordham accused the Liberal government of being “too arrogant” to put the signs back as they were until they tried the failed alternatives, as it would be seen as a win for Labor opposition leader Chris Minns.
“I don’t think I’ve been arrogant in any of this, I think I’ve worked really hard to make sure we change the policy,” Mrs Ward threw back.
Removal of warning signs around mobile speed cameras led to a staggering increase in minor offenses with drivers fined for exceeding the 10 km/h speed limit
Fordham demanded to know why the warnings would not be back in place until January 1, with the rollout apparently held up because the signs are too large to fit in the vehicles.
Ms Ward said she wasn’t “on the details” of that, but it would take “some time” for NSW Transport to work things out with the mobile speed camera contractors. She said she had instructed her department to complete it “as soon as possible.”
Fordham asked why the new plates for the 143 mobile speed cameras were budgeted at $2.6 million, about $1800 for each.
“Are they gold?” asked Fordham.
“Listening to the community costs money, Ben,” Mrs. Ward said.
“We heard from the community that they wanted this, we have adjusted our policy and that costs money.”
When Fordham insisted that the government had already admitted it was a mistake to remove the signs, Ms Ward evaded any personal responsibility.
“I wasn’t part of those previous decisions, but I’m definitely here to fix it now and that’s exactly what we did,” she said.
Warning signs placed around mobile speed cameras to give drivers the opportunity to slow down will not be placed in NSW until January 1, 2023
Fordham urged her to apologize.
‘Do you regret? Yes or no?’ he demanded.
“I am proud of what our government has done,” said Ms Ward.
“I’m very happy to be at the forefront of all the other decisions that have been made, but I’m here now and on my watch we make sure those signs are there.”
“If you say, ‘I’m happy to take the rap. I don’t hear you take the rap, I hear a minister in la-la-land,’ Fordham snapped back.
Ms Ward reiterated that she acted on what the community had told her.
“I bet you won’t regret it,” Fordham said as the fiery interview concluded.