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Mr HAZZARD (Wakehurst) [8.44 p.m.]: I raise a serious issue that involves the death of a five-year-old girl, Bethany Violet Holder. Bethany died on 24 July 2002 in circumstances that were quite horrific. She was on her way to school and had just entered the school grounds. She was with her dad and her older sister. Unfortunately, Bethany had apparently moved away from her dad and, sadly, was struck and killed by a four-wheel-drive vehicle. As the driver of the vehicle is currently before the courts, I do not propose to go into detail and traverse the precise facts. Indeed, I shall exercise caution in what I say in that regard. It is quite amazing and beyond belief that the insurer of the motor vehicle, which is one of the biggest companies in Australia, the NRMA, has denied responsibility for the various expenses incurred by Bethany's parents as a result of this accident. I note that the NRMA wrote to Maurice Blackburn Cashman on 28 March, only a short time ago. The letter, signed by Ngaire Irwin, a so-called senior injury claims consultant at the NRMA, stated:
I confirm that we have completed our inquiries into the circumstances of the accident and we deny liability on behalf of our insured, M. S. Waterhouse. We make this denial on the basis of the following material:
• Our factual inquiries in relation to the circumstances of the accident.
The NRMA likes to suggest that it is the H.E.L.P. company, yet five-year-old Bethany died; she was run over by a motor vehicle. The courts will appropriately deal with whether or not a breach of the Motor Traffic Act or a criminal offence has been committed. As I said, I do not propose to traverse those issues. But what I would say to the NRMA, and to the broader community, is that the response to Bethany's parents is quite stunning and ridiculous, especially from a company that purports to care about people and help them.
The expenses being claimed by Danny and Lisa Holder are not unreasonable. These include the cost of Bethany's funeral, Bethany's headstone, the function after the funeral for family who came from England and even further afield, and the airfares for Bethany's grandparents, who came to Australia to support Bethany's parents in the sad aftermath of this terrible incident. I call on the NRMA to engage its most senior officer to reconsider the file as quickly as possible. When a little child is hit by a motor vehicle, the balance of probabilities standard should apply to the NRMA and, therefore, it must be kidding to suggest it is not liable. This typical bureaucratic response is so insensitive and inappropriate that I find it absolutely mind-boggling to believe it came from the NRMA.
For years many of us have been members of the NRMA in some form or other, and that company should not respond so insensitively to a family that has suffered so much. I visited the family shortly after Bethany's death and I know the level of misery they have suffered. No parent should have to suffer like this, and no family should have to endure an insurance company behaving so insensitively by writing a bureaucratic letter in this manner. I call on the NRMA to become more responsive and to actually do what it says it will do, that is, H.E.L.P.