 Thank you everyone. Today we are launching the Easter Road Safety Campaign. Every year we see hundreds of Queenslanders die on our roads through fatalities. This year alone 70 Queenslanders have lost their lives, 15 more than last year. On average we have 300 Queenslanders' lives lost on the road. And across the whole of Australia over 2,000 Australians are killed in motor accidents. And most of those motor accidents are avoidable. And I'm really doing poor people this Easter holiday period to remember the fatal five. You know, to make sure they look after their mates. That they enjoy this beautiful country that we have here in Queensland, but they come home safely. And we can do that by simply staying cool. And I really do challenge all Queenslanders this year to have a zero fatality for the Easter break. So stay cool and I challenge every Queenslander to have a zero fatality for the Easter break. Because just like here, as I've said before, there's many legends here behind us on the footy field. I want you to be a legend in your motor vehicle and look after your family, look after your friends. And make sure that you don't put our emergency service workers as well as other extended family members through the pain and suffering of tending a fatality. It's all too common and they're very avoidable. And we can work together to make sure that we can have a safe period. So plan your trip, organise yourselves with your families. Be patient on the roads. We see too many people getting frustrated, getting anxious and doing the most stupid things with their vehicles. And a vehicle, it's not just the driver, the effect, the effect, the people in the car and other innocent Queenslanders. So take responsibility for your driving, drive safe, stay cool and we want a zero tolerance for this Easter break. Also today, we'd also like to announce that from midnight tonight, there'll be fixed speed cameras, fixed to the Gaven overpass in relation to the M1 motorway and the Smith Street overpass. Now we've seen over 19 fatalities in a five year period in this particular area. And again, I obviously take obviously the most action we can to ensure the safety of all Queenslanders. And I really do implore people to drive safely over this Easter break. Now the reason why we're also here, I've also got the Minister for Transport as well, because as a government, road safety is not just one department's issue. And it's a new and exciting time that we see all the departments in this LNP government working together to increase the road safety message, but also the strategies in relation to ensuring that Queenslanders can travel safely on our roads and our highways, not just in this Easter period, but for the years ahead. And we'll be doing that from a number of strategies which we'll be revealing in the coming months. What we've also seen is obviously, I can go to the technical side with the commissioner shortly, but in relation to that is when we've seen certain traffic enforcement actions being introduced, we'll see a decrease in the spike in relation to fatalities. So when we've seen national or state initiatives, whether it be in relation to seat belts, drink driving, whether it be demerit points, whether it be in relation to the fatal four and fatal five, we'll normally see that there's been an increase in fatalities and where action has been in place, we'll see a decrease. Unfortunately, we have to be constantly making sure that we have the latest information, but obviously we have the resources to be in place to have an enforcement action and an education action. And also, we have to have a long-term strategy with the education sector to ensure that young people get the message as early as possible, that it is a privilege to have a driver's licence, not a right. Look, I'd be happy if we had zero fatalities and the police didn't even have to issue one traffic ticket, but I can guarantee you, if you're out there doing the wrong thing, if you're speeding, the full force of the police will be enforcing the traffic regulations and they'll be obviously in relation to this Easter break, there'll be a zero tolerance in relation to the enforcement of traffic infringements to ensure that all Queenslanders can get home safely. Look, we're continuously trying to try everything from education to different types of enforcement. That's why we've also increased, obviously, we've got the seatbelts and safety campaign from the Department of Transport. Thirty Queenslanders on average per year lose their lives in not wearing a seatbelt. You know, it is absolutely ridiculous and people really have to obey the laws and we'll continue to keep abreast of any changes and we'll do whatever it takes to give a clear message that you have to drive and obey the road rules. Well, Queensland Ambulance Service attended over 800 incidences over the Easter break and what we've seen is that we simply cannot sit on our hands in relation to road safety. We have to try every type of avenue and in the past we've seen where speed cameras have been put in place. It has decreased the amount of fatalities. When for the instance in relation to the Gaven area, we had over in a five year period over 19 fatalities all involving speed. So it is obviously an issue in speed in that particular area and this is one of the many ways in which we'll address it. We will have fixed cameras, we'll have mobile cameras. This year, Easter period, we'll have covert and overt police actions. And I'll just remind everybody that police will be anywhere at any time to enforce the traffic act and it'll be a priority for police for this Easter period. Just the other day on the M1, when police did a covert operation, they got 40 drink drivers in one evening. Now with all the campaigning and all the messaging, it still simply is up to the individuals to take that responsibility and is deplorable to think in this day and age that there was 40 drink drivers in one evening on one particular highway. So we will continue to evaluate all our resources and all our legislative resources as well as working in with all government departments. It is not one certain part of the community that takes responsibility for driving. It's not just the police, the Department of Transport, everybody has the shoulder, the burden and make sure that they can drive safely. Well that's why obviously driving safety is a complex issue and we've seen peaks in relation to the number of fatalities and I would be happy if there wasn't even one fatality and that's why we have to constantly keep abreast of what resources and what actions we can take to reduce this type of fatalities and it's not just the here and now, it's what we want to do in the future in relation to making sure that people, especially a younger generation who are more risk-adversive in relation to their driving actions are not just skilled up in relation to how they drive but also being responsible for their driving actions. It certainly will from the information that we've received from obviously the traffic branch to date. It's sending a message out to the community. It will take time. There is obviously still a lot more to do but we will certainly not be shirking any responsibility into that driver safety message. When we see in relation to inattention and mobile use an average of 33,000 traffic offences issued every year and people now know that it is included in the Fatal Five and from talking to members of the community, even my local community I can see that people are starting to learn maybe not as quick as enough as we like but we'll certainly be highlighting that in the Fatal Five with speeding, seatbelts, drink driving, fatigue on these long journeys while we go out and enjoy our beautiful environment and the inattention as well. Look, we've seen figures coming back that an average fatality is anything up to a million dollars but it's not just the money. It's the emotional side of these fatalities that take away a person's life in an instant and loved ones don't get a chance to say goodbye. It's the impact on their extended family as well as the emergency services and what is absolutely ridiculous is the fact that these accidents are avoidable. Seatbelts, speeding, drink driving, inattention, fatigue I ask Queenslanders, please, to take responsibility for their actions and I make no apologies for the enforcement that the police will be coming their way this Easter campaign. Commissioner, where are some of the hotspots? Sorry. No, thank you for that question. Obviously, it's all over. It's in the entire state of Queensland. The National Road Safety Campaign, Operation Crossroads commences basically at one minute past midnight tonight. It goes to one minute to midnight on Monday night. So the whole Easter period is covered. But this isn't just about enforcement. It's what the minister said. People need to take responsibility. This is about everyone's child. This is about their brothers, their cousins, their husbands, their wives. This is about people actually taking real responsibility for their driving behaviour. That's how we're going to save lives over this Easter period and that's how we're going to continue to save lives throughout the year. But there must be some... Absolutely there are. And we focus on highway driving over the Easter period because that's where, as you all know, that's where a lot of the vehicles are. But that doesn't mean that we're not going to be in the back streets as well because that's another area where we want to make sure that everyone's safe. Not necessarily. Obviously, we're after people who just don't obey the road rules and have no respect for other road users and for the lives of those other members of the community. So we'll target anyone who breaks the law. It doesn't matter what age they are. Just before we go, can I just get the minister in the centre? I think you're so kind of... Hey look, can I just reinforce the message from the commissioner? Yep. Just want to reinforce the message from the minister and the commissioner. Look, we had one fatality last year over this period. We want zero this time. The reality is it's not just about yourself. It's about those other road users. Your families, your friends who will suffer from your failure to act responsibly on the roads this Easter. We have got our commercial campaign out there. Our Better Slow Down campaign. Now we're running that for five weeks. Much longer than is normal. We're very graphic commercials out there to sheet home that message that you are taking your lives in your hands but also other people's lives. So please, we're begging you out there. Please be sensible on the roads this year. We're going to reduce it down from one to zero in terms of fatalities. We are well above where we were this time last year in 15 above the road toll from last year. But we are begging you, please slow down. Follow those fatal fives and be aware of them and act sensibly over the next couple of days. Obviously we monitor crime wherever it's occurring throughout the state and where there's a spike, we do something about it. When we need to deploy extra resources, we also do that. But in terms of specifics about task force operations right across this state, I'd rather the crooks and those people who have no respect for the law to be the first to find out when a task force rolls into their area. You know that we have a long history of using task force operations in what we call place and case management. So where we see an issue that needs extra attention by our police, we certainly form up a task force and use that type of facility. Some of the most notable in recent times are operations Seymour down the Gold Coast a couple of years ago. Certainly operation Escalate and Escalate 2 which occurred in Cairns over the last few months. And certainly we're looking at Townsville as an area where we can use that type of operation again. Look, all of these issues, we're coming to a bubble even before the last election. And you know, even for myself, I worked in Townsville as a police officer for over 14 years. And you could see the different types of offences occurring particularly in the Townsville and North Queensland area in relation to obviously property offences, unlawful use and use type of offences. So it is obviously being increasing over a number of years. And that's why we set about in making sure that we had 1100 new police officers trying to make sure we had the restructure and really to thank the commissioner for the restructure in relation to ensuring that we have a greater capacity and task force operations across the whole of the state and the flexibility that we have within that area. But also making sure that these criminals do not know when police are going to be coming their way. And we saw that in Operation Escalate and some magnificent results through that. But it's also having a short-term task force capacity that is then obviously enhanced by a long-term capacity in relation to police numbers, in relation to the type and operation and infrastructure that we have within policing. And we'll do that for the Townsville area. But I'm not going to come into a particular area in any throughout the whole of Queensland and give a short-term quick fix, band-aid fixes. The communities are sick of band-aid's effects and that's why we as a government have made sure that through the Attorney Generals, we've got the boot camps, we're changing and having a whole, obviously, investigation in relation to street crime. But from a policing perspective, we're making sure that we get the maximum amount of police to those particular areas that are most needed. In relation to Townsville specifically about the task force, I'll be working with the commissioner over the coming weeks to look at the short-term and the long-term strategies in relation to Townsville. For the details. Thanks, Minister. Obviously, the ideal is to be able to deploy staff from anywhere in the state to a task force operation and that's our mantra at the moment. We certainly did that with Operation Escalate. We used resources from around the state and for any other large task forces like this, that's exactly right. It doesn't rule out though that in the future that we won't take officers locally and put them into a task force situation in a time-limited way to address a specific issue. And that's the very nature of task force operations. I'm not going to talk about specifics in relation to any future operational matters. Can you tell us exactly what they will be targeting? Is it harm-getting broken into? Is it things getting vandalised? Oh, look, it's the whole gamut of crime where we see spikes and we need to provide extra resources to our police officers who are on the ground right now, where we need to provide them with the support of extra staff. Obviously, we'll be operating across the full gamut. I think you know that there's a significant connection between people who offend on the road regularly and criminal acts. So, there's a wide, very broad scope and vision for how we operate in these task forces.