A legal cloud hanging over thousands of fines for seatbelt offences caught on camera has been cleared up after the Legislative Assembly voted to fix an "embarrassing" administrative error.
City and Government Services Minister Tara Cheyne acknowledged the administrative error and defended the government's haste in correcting the problem.
"Is it embarrassing? Yes. Is it regretful or regrettable? Yes. But being a minister is about being accountable. And I'm being accountable in this place," Ms Cheyne said.
The Canberra Times revealed the ACT had been forced to stop issuing fines to drivers caught on camera not wearing seatbelts because the instrument to authorise the cameras was bungled.
Fines have since resumed and the law passed on Thursday means there is no legal risk facing the earlier infringements.
Nearly 13,000 infringement notices had been issued for seatbelt offences before the Acusensus system was explicitly approved as a "seatbelt detection system".
Opposition Leader Mark Parton said the Liberals were fundamentally opposed to the rushed, retrospective legislation to correct the "disastrous error".
"We think it sets a precedent that enables the government to do pretty much whatever they want to do retrospectively, then go back and make changes to pretty much anything. This is a mess," Mr Parton said.
The government should be made to wear its mistake, he said.
But the ACT Greens supported the legislation to fix the authorisation problem that did not specifically allow the camera system to be used to issue the seatbelt offence fines. The Greens' support ensured the bill would pass.
"The government's failure to update the instrument to allow existing equipment to be used for seatbelt detection is not an excuse for someone not wearing a seatbelt. The legal question of the fines issued during the affected period needs to be resolved quickly in the interests of the territory. Therefore, the Greens are supportive of the bill," the party's deputy leader, Andrew Braddock, said.
Treasurer Chris Steel said voting against the bill would end bipartisan support of Vision Zero, the multinational push to end fatal road accidents.
"It would be an incredibly disappointing step backwards by the Canberra Liberals. Too many Australians and Canberrans die on our roads every year due to the reckless behaviour of people who aren't wearing seatbelts, who speed, who drive under the influence of alcohol and other drugs, and are otherwise dangerous on our roads," Mr Steel said.
The Liberals' Ed Cocks said the opposition supported Vision Zero. "What we are talking about here today is not whether anyone is committed to Vision Zero or not. It is about the competence of the government," he said.
