{"id":158604,"date":"2016-09-20T16:23:24","date_gmt":"2016-09-20T06:23:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=158604"},"modified":"2020-10-05T12:03:07","modified_gmt":"2020-10-05T02:03:07","slug":"obrien-to-head-black-spot-panel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2016\/09\/20\/obrien-to-head-black-spot-panel\/","title":{"rendered":"O’Brien To Head Black Spot Panel"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Federal Member for Wide Bay Llew O’Brien, Federal Transport Minister Darren Chester and State Member for Gympie Tony Perrett (Photo: Wide Bay Electorate Office)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

September 20, 2016<\/strong><\/p>\n

Federal Member for Wide Bay Llew O\u2019Brien has been appointed chairman of the Queensland Black Spot Consultative Panel.<\/p>\n

Mr O\u2019Brien, a former road traffic crash investigator, will work with a range of community and road user groups, industry members and government agencies to allocate funding under the Federal Government\u2019s Black Spot Program.<\/p>\n

Transport Minister Darren Chester said Mr O\u2019Brien would bring a range of skills to the role, including a strong knowledge of Queensland road safety issues.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a rural-based Member of Parliament and former police officer, Llew is well-versed in the issues facing many communities in terms of road safety, with regional areas often disproportionately affected by road crashes,\u201d Mr Chester said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe has seen firsthand the terrible impact crashes have on families, friends and the wider community and knows the importance of fixing priority danger spots to prevent accidents occurring.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis years of experience in working collaboratively with a broad cross-section of the community will also be invaluable in this role.”<\/p>\n

Mr O\u2019Brien said too many communities and families had been touched by the horror and tragedy of vehicle accidents.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Black Spot Program helps to eliminate the most deadly accident sites and I look forward to working with local communities, motoring groups and emergency services to making local roads safer,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The Australian Government has committed $500 million to the Black Spot Program over five years to 2018-19, which includes an additional $200 million over two years from 2015-16 to improve road safety across the nation.<\/p>\n