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Wednesday, February 28, 1973
HIGHER COSTS FOR OBTAINING DRIVING LICENCES
Measures To Reduce Applications To Manageable Numbers
*
The Financial Secretary, the Hon. C.F. Haddon-Cave, today announced
proposals to increase the fees for obtaining a provisional driving licence in
an attempt to reduce the large number of applications,
Speaking at the Budget session, he also proposed that the fee for a
driving licence should be raised from 310 to "a more realistic figure of $50,"
He pointed out that there were now 417,000 holders of driving licences
with a waiting list of 75,000 applicants, and more coming forward at a rate
of 6,000 a month.
The Transport Department had tried to solve the backlog problem by
accelerating the testing programme. However, the efforts only succeeded in
making matters worse.
**So we must resort to fiscal measures and I propose that the fee for
the application form should be raised from $20 to $150, and for a provisional
licence from $40 to $100. These increases should reduce applications to
manageable numbers."
Many applicants would, no doubt, hope to purchase, in due course, a
vehicle and the first step in this process was to obtain a driving licence.
The proposed increase of the annual fee for a driving licence from $10
to 250 should assist in deterring them from the first step which would eventually
lead to increased road congestion.
"An increase ..
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