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Speaker 1: Government is scrapping free, unlimited driver licensed tests. They were

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Speaker 1: brought in by Labor last year, but what they basically

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Speaker 1: did was led to a massive wait list for driving

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Speaker 1: tests for people who just kept on sitting and sitting

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Speaker 1: and sitting and sitting the thing again. From July eight,

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Speaker 1: applicants will be eligible for only one free recent and

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Speaker 1: then any after that they have to pay for. Simon

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Speaker 1: Douglas is the AA's chief policy officer.

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Speaker 2: Hey Simon, Hi, how are you?

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Speaker 1: And well? Thank you? How long is the wait list

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Speaker 1: at the moment compared to what it used to be?

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Speaker 1: Do you know?

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Speaker 2: It varies region by region, but at times in big

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Speaker 2: service it's been up to or over three months to

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Speaker 2: sit your driver's license and it's just not an acceptable

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Speaker 2: length of time and get to the way people who

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Speaker 2: need their driver's license are getting them.

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Speaker 1: Do you think that once this kicks in July eight,

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Speaker 1: which is what like less than a week away, it's

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Speaker 1: going to have an immediate impact.

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Speaker 2: I don't think it'll have an immediate impact. That government

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Speaker 2: has allowed for a transition zone of three months so

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Speaker 2: that people have already paid their fee and can get

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Speaker 2: their RESA. I think it'll be really important over the

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Speaker 2: period and when it's three months, transition in to holorter

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Speaker 2: really carefully and just see that these changers have had

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Speaker 2: the impact we want, which is making people much more

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Speaker 2: able to get their Fither's licensed test when they want

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Speaker 2: to get it.

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Speaker 1: Presumably this was brought in to be able to help

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Speaker 1: people who couldn't pay for a reset, who a hard

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Speaker 1: up and needed a license. Has this had any impact

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Speaker 1: on trying to help those guys out.

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Speaker 2: Well, I think we've seen large numbers of applicants going

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Speaker 2: through the system and the number of research suggested. On

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Speaker 2: the one hand, people were wanting more accessibility, but it's

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Speaker 2: gone too far. And I think where we've landed today

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Speaker 2: with the couple aloming for one free research that gives

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Speaker 2: a bit of a nod to those people who found

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Speaker 2: the fees a bit of a barrier. I think it's

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Speaker 2: about the right place.

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Speaker 1: Simon, Thanks very much, appreciate it. Simon Douglas, Chief Policy Officer.

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