Toronto Motor Registry


27th August 2015

Mr GREG PIPER: With some trepidation, I direct my question to the Minister for Finance, Services and Property. In the light of significant community opposition, will the Minister agree to have the decision to close the Toronto motor registry reviewed and have the department investigate conversion of the site to a Service NSW centre?

The SPEAKER: Order! Members will come to order. I remind the member for Canterbury that she is on three calls to order.

Mr DOMINIC PERROTTET: I thank the member for Lake Macquarie for his question and acknowledge the great work he does for his constituents. I also appreciate that the merger of a motor registry is a change for local communities such as his electorate. However, the bigger picture is that through Service NSW more people will be able to access more services than ever before.

The SPEAKER: Order! Members will cease interjecting. Members will come to order.

Mr DOMINIC PERROTTET: Service NSW is building an innovative physical network of one-stop shops in key population corridors. Those sites are chosen by an independent team of experts who consider a range of factors when it comes to the location of the site. The factors include population and demographics, traffic flows and the movement of people at different times of the day, closeness to transport links and ease of parking, and the suitability and size of various premises. The decisions are made region by region to maximise access to government services and reduce expenditure on older and unsuitable shopfronts.

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Wyong will come to order. The member for Charlestown will come to order. The member for Swansea will cease interjecting.

Mr DOMINIC PERROTTET: Service NSW one-stop shops offer far more services than do traditional single-agency shopfronts, such as Birth, Deaths and Marriages, Fair Trading offices and motor registries.

The SPEAKER: Order! I call the member for Swansea to order for the first time.

Mr DOMINIC PERROTTET: Previously our citizens would visit a motor registry in one location to obtain a licence.

The SPEAKER: Order! I call the member for Port Stephens to order for the first time.

Mr Greg Piper: Point of order: My point of order relates to Standing Order 52. Could I ask for the Minister to be heard in silence? Members at the back of the Chamber are having difficulty hearing the answer.

The SPEAKER: Order! I uphold the point of order. Opposition members will cease interjecting. All members on one or two calls to order are deemed to be on three calls to order.

[Interruption]

The SPEAKER: Order! I direct the member for Swansea to remove herself from the Chamber until the conclusion of question time.

[Pursuant to sessional order the member for Swansea left the Chamber at 3.03 p.m.]

The SPEAKER: Order! When I call members to order they will cease interjecting.

[Interruption]

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Rockdale will cease interjecting or be removed from the Chamber. The Minister has the call.

Mr DOMINIC PERROTTET: As I was saying, previously our citizens would visit a motor registry in one location to obtain a licence, a births, deaths and marriages office in another location to obtain a birth certificate, and then a justice of the peace in a third location to obtain a seniors card. Now they will be able to do it all in the one trip at one Service NSW location. The Government must look at the bigger picture, not consider individual locations in isolation. Customers can book appointments and take advantage of wi-fi and a range of other services with a highly trained multilingual team on hand to help. That is not to mention the 24-hour hotline, the website where people can transact online, or the mobile phone app. Through Service NSW, more services can be accessed by more people in one place.

The SPEAKER: Order! I call the member for Gosford to order for the first time.

Mr DOMINIC PERROTTET: The Government has invested significantly in both the Central Coast and Hunter regions. There are now one-stop shops in Warners Bay, Newcastle, Maitland and Gosford.

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Lake Macquarie cannot hear the Minister's answer because members are interjecting. I call the member for Gosford to order for the second time. Members will come to order. I will stop the clock if there are any further interjections.

Mr DOMINIC PERROTTET: Those sites all act as regional hubs—serving more customers with more staff and offering more services—and there is less waiting time. Planning also is underway for new one-stop shops in Raymond Terrace, Wallsend, Singleton, Nelson Bay, Toukley and Wyong-Tuggerah. The Government is making sure that service centres are located in the right area to cater for current population needs and future growth.

The SPEAKER: Order! I direct the member for Gosford to remove herself from the Chamber until the conclusion of question time.

[Pursuant to sessional order the member for Gosford left the Chamber at 3.04 p.m.]

The SPEAKER: Order! I am exercising my discretion. The member for Lake Macquarie took a point of order because he could not hear the Minister. I asked members to cease interjecting.

Mr DOMINIC PERROTTET: The Toronto motor registry will relocate to the existing Service NSW Warners Bay service centre in mid-October. Key community stakeholders and community groups are receiving notification of the change, but the Government's first priority always is to inform affected staff first. Compared with just five staff at Toronto, Warners Bay has 23 staff. Warners Bay can accommodate more than 700 customers a day and has capacity to deliver 135 driver tests a week. The site also offers extended trading hours from 7.00 a.m. to 7.00 p.m. and extended hours on Saturdays. Customers can book appointments to secure a service. Toronto also will be provided with a mobile driver testing service that will visit the area once a week to cater for those who are on restricted licences.

Service NSW has been a success story of this Government. Its premises are new and modern, its services are delivered quickly and efficiently, and its staff are friendly, helpful and motivated. Each day I receive feedback on just how surprised and delighted people are by the level of service now offered by our Government. That is why Service NSW has a 98 per cent satisfaction rating. The Government cannot and should not consider individual locations in isolation; rather, we must consider and deliver the best customer service network that meets the needs of our citizens.

Pursuant to standing order additional information provided.

Mr DOMINIC PERROTTET: The success of Service NSW is built around the customer.

The SPEAKER: Order! Members will cease interjecting.

Mr DOMINIC PERROTTET: The Government will continue to listen and learn. Already the Government has shown a willingness to listen to customer feedback and to act accordingly. My commitment to the member for Lake Macquarie is to continue to monitor the situation and work with him to ensure the best outcome is achieved for the people of Lake Macquarie.


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