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Mr TONY STEWART (Bankstown—Parliamentary Secretary) [5.21 p.m.]: I want to uphold the fair and reasonable rights of approximately 2,200 smash repairers—many of whom have businesses in my electorate—who employ more than 22,000 people in New South Wales, together with 700 new motor vehicle spare parts dealerships that employ approximately 40,000 people in this State, and, importantly, the tens of thousands of motor vehicle insurance policy holders who are now being detrimentally affected by the implementation of the NRMA's so-called Preferred Repairer Network Scheme.
I point out that this controversial scheme is not the product of the NRMA Road Service which, quite rightly, is held in high esteem. Rather, it is the product of a separate body, namely NRMA Insurance, together with its parent company, IAG. NRMA Insurance and IAG have been ruthless in their implementation of the Preferred Repairer Network Scheme, which quite simply is aimed at profit generation at the expense of policy holder safety and industry rights. Although only in its early days—a few weeks—it will, if left unchecked, certainly lead to a denial of freedom of choice by policy holders. This is already becoming evident as policy holders are discovering that when they take their car to a central NRMA depot for photographing and release to a tender process, it can end up in Victoria or Queensland without their knowledge, consent or understanding.
Many people who are involved in the industry, as well as my colleagues and I, believe that a web-based quotation system that involves tendering after viewing on a web site a photograph of the repair job will lead to unsafe and poor quality repairs. An NRMA assessor—who often is a young person without proper qualifications in motor vehicle smash repairs or maintenance—takes photographs of the vehicle and the job is put out to tender. Astonishingly, if a smash repairer wins a tender with a quote of $2,000, for example, and discovers other necessary safety repairs that were not evident in the photograph—for example, repairs to the steering or suspension—he is penalised if he goes ahead with those repairs. Unfortunately, under this system, some repairers will cut corners and avoid carrying out those repairs.
The scheme has already led to thousands of industry job losses, particularly for apprentices, as businesses close down. We need the specialised jobs that this industry offers, but NRMA Insurance and IAG want to mow over those job opportunities and that will ultimately lead to increased insurance premiums. Today I moved a motion in the parliamentary Labor Party caucus, which was unanimously supported, calling on the Government to investigate an opportunity to implement what is known as anti-steering legislation. Such legislation successfully exists in more than 30 states of the United States of America, where it was put in place because of similar problems with insurance companies wanting to use their market muscle and possess the market to force policy holders into using their preferred repairer networks. I commend Allianz, for example, and other insurance companies that give their customers a fair, reasonable and unfettered choice—a service that they pay for. I am pleased that the Minister for Fair Trading is investigating community and industry concerns in relation to the NRMA's Preferred Repairer Network Scheme. The decision by the parliamentary Labor Party caucus now adds substance to the Government's focus to resolve this issue. I hope NRMA Insurance and IAG will try to work out a comparable, fair and reasonable scheme for the industry and its customers.