Faulconbridge father Peter Frazer has been honoured in Federal Parliament by both sides of politics this week for his tireless efforts on road safety.
Bipartisan support was given to the former Blue Mountains Citizen of the Year during speeches to the Parliament in Canberra by the Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack and Opposition Transport spokesman Anthony Albanese on Tuesday May 8. Mr Frazer watched on surprised from the public gallery.
Mr McCormack recognised the “important and powerful work” of Mr Frazer and his group SARAH [Safer Australian Roads and Highways] which was named after Peter’s daughter who lost her life in 2012 while travelling on a regional road to university.
“Peter has been a tireless and passionate advocate for road safety, I acknowledge him, the government acknowledges him, the Parliament acknowledges him. He has an organisation named after his beautiful daughter and I commend him for his work and everything he has done for road safety,” he told the Parliament and social media afterwards.
Labor’s Anthony Albanese then told Parliament House he would also like to “join with the deputy prime minister to acknowledge the fine work Peter has done in the name of his daughter Sarah. Road safety is something that should unite everyone in this Parliament. We have a bipartisan pledge to do what we can to reduce road trauma.”
Mr Frazer said it had come at the end of his two weeks of campaigning around Australia as part of National Road Safety Week – which he founded in 2013 – where he reminded the public about the harrowing road safety statistics.
“With more than 1200 people killed on a roads every year and with over 35,000 seriously injured, road trauma is at epidemic proportions,” Mr Frazer said.
“It was wonderful to see many of the members and senators wearing yellow ribbons in support of National Road Safety Week, I wasn’t prepared for what happened during Question Time… I would have fixed my lapel ribbon had I known.”
Mr Frazer said “telling Sarah's story has meant that in a very real way, she has become the face of road safety across our nation”.
”We are now operating in a different environment with road safety firmly on the agenda,” he told the Gazette.
“National Road Safety Week has been an important instrument in this as it has helped the commonwealth states and territories come together in a way that we've not witnessed before. I also believe that there is a renewal of the idea that whether we are individuals, NGOs, corporates or governments, we can save lives and prevent serious injury if we work together under one banner and with one voice.
“We can do things to save lives by changing our behaviour.”