TO ALL VICTORIAN MPs

Road tolls, at about half the car rate, will be introduced for Victorian motorcycle & scooter riders on Eastlink this year. This is not good for road safety, traffic congestion or the environment. Bike tolls will be introduced across the State.

The only thing left of the gains made for motorcycling in Victoria in the 1980s is free footpath parking and rider training. Is anyone taking bets on what the government will attack next?

South Australia is set to pass a law that threatens Australian democracy. The law is opposed by the Democrats, the Greens and other reputable organisations including the Law Society & Bar Association and civil liberties organisations. In an attempt to crack down on organised crime, in the form of motorcycle gangs, the SA Government wants powers that are a threat to freedoms which Australians believe are rights.

Combine the SA anti-association law with national-level proposals for compulsory front ID for motorcycles & scooters using satelite tracking devices and you take a big step towards a police state. The technology exists and is being tested in 50 government vehicles in Melbourne. This technology has the potential to fine/toll vehicles anywhere in Australia and can even apply your brakes or kill the motor if rigged to do so.

The Melbourne City Council is considering ways to use these type of tags to impose a congestion tax on the CBD and to remotely charge parking fees. See The Age. Page 10. Thursday, May 15, 2008. The CoM calls its' version "Skymetre". Other Australian cities a bound to consider it.

The amount of data that these systems can gather on ordinary people is frightening.

Damien Codognotto OAM
Melbourne.
MRA Life Member.
Ulysses Club 21208.