Face of Nation : Wicked Campervans with offensive slogans would be banned from being registered in all states and territories, under a plan signed off at a national meeting of transport ministers.
Each state agreed to deregister vans which refused to have offensive slogans taken down following a complaint, and then ensure the van could not simply be re-registered in another jurisdiction. Queensland Road Safety Minister Mark Bailey has claimed Wicked is “exploiting a loophole” by registering the vans in other states to get around the ban.
Transport Minister Stephan Knoll said the “national and co-ordinated approach” would get offensive slogans off South Australian roads.
He said state Labor’s push to ban offensive slogans from the state would simply have “kicked the can into the next jurisdiction” without the united push to close the loophole. “This national agreement we have achieved today means we will be able to solve this problem once and for all,” he said.
Wicked campers with offensive slogans would be banned in SA if a complaint was lodged to the Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure and an advertising bureau agreed it should be banned. The company would then be given 14 days to remove or amend the slogan or have its registration removed.
In a statement, Labor’s shadow spokeswoman for the Status of Women, Katrine Hildyard, said “together with women’s advocacy organisations including Collective Shout and the YWCA, domestic violence services and a range of other groups, we have been campaigning for a long time (for) the Marshall Liberal Government to pass our legislation to rid our roads of Wicked Camper Vans which promote violence against women. They have to date refused to do so.
“Whilst their actions are long overdue, I am glad to hear that Stephan Knoll has finally listened and is beginning to understand how wrong it is to use language which disrespects women and promotes violence against women.”
