Federal Gellibrand MP Tim Watts is urging local drivers to be safe on the roads this Christmas after admitting he received seven speeding fines in six months last year.
Documents seen by Star Weekly show Mr Watts exceeded the speed limit – by less than 10 kilometres an hour on each occasion – seven times between July 21 to December 20.
“Members of Parliament aren’t perfect, and I’ll put my hand up here and be open and honest with my constituents,” Mr Watt said.
“I haven’t had any since and I paid for all of them personally.”
Mr Watts admitted he’d had a bad period of driving, but he did not offer a reason for his speeding.
He also recorded a speeding fine in June 2013.
Local issues
In a wide-ranging end-of-year interview, Mr Watts said he expected an airport transport link from Sunshine would emerge from Sunshine’s new activity centre status.
The planning amendment to rezone 19 hectares of industrial land is expected to also unlock $1 billion in investment, with the council lobbying for a bus link to the airport in a recent transport priorities document.
“If you make Sunshine the hub of growth in the west, it makes sense … they would come to Sunshine and to the airport. Making that happen is a state government issue. You can see the rationale behind it,” Mr Watts said.
He said it was important that all levels of government worked together to get infrastructure “up to scratch” and on pace with investment.
“The biggest issue in the west is the pace of change we’re experiencing,” Mr Watts said. “The west is the fastest- growing region in Australia and Sunshine is the epicentre of that.
“A hell of a lot of positives come from that. If we do that right, the whole community will benefit … but it can be done badly.
“It’s really important you get those developer contributions right so that everyone is benefiting.”
Mr Watts refused to be drawn on concerns that the coming Brimbank council elections may be compromised by political influence.
“I don’t comment on local government issues,” he said. “The reason for that is our jobs are complicated enough without getting into each other’s business. It’s not something that I have any involvement or influence in.”
Support for Bill Shorten
He gave federal Opposition Leader Bill Shorten (who has had his own driving hassles in recent times) his full support, despite a dire approval rating of 14 per cent last week.
“There’s no doubt being Opposition Leader is the hardest job in Australia,” he said.
“He is somebody who never shies away from a challenge. If you’d asked me after the last federal election if we could be where we are now … I think it’s been an extraordinary achievement.”
He said he expected to hear from SBS TV in late January whether Sunshine would be featured in the controversial reality show Struggle Street.
