Opposition Leader Matthew Guy has just announced that if the Coalition is elected on Saturday, Victoria will lower the test driving age.
For now, Victorians can get their P-plates when they turn 18. However, people from other states (such as NSW) can get their P at 17.
Opposition Leader Matthew Guy on the campaign trail. Credit: Jason South
Guy made the announcement while touring the regional town of Wodonga, which straddles the NSW border.
Local Liberal MP Bill Tilley is again facing a challenge from independent candidate Jacqui Hawkins, who campaigned in part to reduce legal inconsistencies between NSW and Victoria in 2018 (along with more action on climate change ).
Some Wodonga teenagers left a relative’s address across the border in Albury on RTA forms in order to get their license a year early. The RTA is NSW’s equivalent of VicRoads.
“Victorian children are at a disadvantage,” Guy said during this morning’s press conference. “They can’t drive to school [independently at 17]they can’t drive to work, they can’t drive to college.
“But lowering the age to 17 gives them the opportunity to do so. And break that nexus between the age of 18 and when you can get your license and when you can drink legally.”
The Opposition Leader also pledged to build a new hospital on the border between NSW and Victoria, something local community action groups have called for.
“The border deserves no less.”
Labor has opted to upgrade the existing cross-border site.