The Hon. JOHN AJAKA: I direct my question to the Minister for Roads and Ports. Can the Minister update the House on the New South Wales Government's commitment to cutting red tape?

The Hon. Mick Veitch: You are a long way down in the batting order today, Johnny.

The Hon. DUNCAN GAY: I am disappointed, of course, that the honourable member did not receive the call to ask his question earlier, but I was at risk of over using him. In the lead-up to last year's election the New South Wales Liberals and Nationals made a firm commitment to slash the amount of red tape that had built up over 16 years of government by the Labor Party. On becoming roads Minister I was shocked to find that some truckies had to carry up to a dozen notices at any one time, particularly if they were travelling across State borders. They literally needed to carry a filing cabinet in the cab of their truck to store all the paperwork.

Following my first Road Freight Advisory Council meeting in May last year, I requested Roads and Maritime Services to work closely with the NSW Police Force to investigate the feasibility of removing the requirement for truck drivers to carry a class 2 B-double notice. The recommendation to rescind the requirement to carry that notice—which identifies approved routes for B-double trucks exceeding 19 metres in length—was suggested by well-known and respected industry leader Ron Finemore. After close examination by Roads and Maritime Services and the NSW Police Force, the requirement to carry that notice was rescinded. That is good news. This Government's approach is based on commonsense. Unless there is a demonstrated safety, operational or enforcement purpose for requiring a notice to be carried, that requirement will be rescinded.

I also asked Roads and Maritime Services to work with the police to broaden their efforts to examine the requirement to carry all types and classes of heavy vehicle notices in New South Wales. I am delighted to inform the House that, as a consequence of that joint effort by Roads and Maritime Services and the NSW Police Force, the Government recently abolished the requirement for operators to carry a further five notices: the class 2 road train amendment notice; the class 2 converter dolly combination amendment notice; the class 2 combination amendment notice; the 19 metre B-double mass limit amendment notice; and the class 2 controlled access bus amendment notice.

I must emphasise that if the requirement to carry a notice is rescinded, transport legislation still requires the driver and/or operator to comply with all prescribed road rules, including the need to stick to approved routes. Obviously, some types of notices still need to be carried to provide key information for the purpose of roadside enforcement. This commonsense Government wants to allow the hardworking truckies—those good operators who carry our goods—to get on with the job without being bogged down in red tape. Yet again, our good, commonsense government is delivering where Labor failed.