Fail for WOF reforms
The Motor Trade Association (MTA) has given the government a fail for vehicle safety in its latest warrant of fitness (WOF) inspection for the ruling coalition.
The fail mark is one of two for the government, but it has been awarded an overall pass in the latest MTA inspection after receiving passes in crime, fuel, immigration and education categories.
James McDowall, MTA’s head of advocacy, says the six-monthly warrant delivers a serious message in an innovative format on how well the government is working with and for the automotive sector.
“There is possibly a degree of irony that the government’s own warrant of fitness reforms get a fail in the MTA’s WOF inspection,” he adds.
“The reforms were a significant, serious issue for MTA members and industry, and unfortunately the government chose to go ahead with changes that were unsupported and unwelcome to many in the sector.”
MTA highlighted its concerns about the proposals by publishing an open letter to the government in newspapers nationwide at the end of last year.
It warned the short-term savings for motorists under the reforms will be outweighed by increased costs from delayed maintenance and repairs, and there will be more unsafe vehicles on the roads as a result of the change in inspection frequency.
“Our position is formed by MTA members, who carry out 80 per cent of the country’s WoF inspections and who were clear in their reservations,” says McDowall, pictured.
“Reservations that were based purely on concern for the safety and bank balance of everyone on our roads.”
In its upcoming election year manifesto, the MTA is calling on politicians to defer the change in WOF frequency for vehicles aged eight to 14 years old for two years while further evaluation can be carried out.
Elsewhere in the latest WOF, the government receives a tick for progress on crime and the “reassuringly calm and consistent” messaging on the fuel situation meets with approval.
A strong performance in the past six months for immigration and education has also earnt praise from the association.
However, a fail mark was issued in the economy category as the absence of the “long-promised green shoots” adds to pre-election pressure on the coalition.
“The government has five months to turn that around,” notes McDowall.
