The new Northern Territory chief minister has hit back at a Porsche executive who criticised his decision to end open speed limits.
The Labor government went to last month’s election saying it would reinstate speed limits on the section of outback highway between Alice Springs and Tennant Creek over safety concerns.
High-end motoring companies often bring vehicles to the stretch of road for testing or filming, and Paul Ellis, director of public relations for Porsche, accused Michael Gunner of creating a “nanny state”.
“We’ve done a pretty good job of killing off the local car industry, the manufacturing of local cars in Australia, and now it seems the Northern Territory government’s doing its best to deter international car companies from coming to Australia to spend money and invest in the local economy,” Ellis told the ABC.
Ellis said it was a decision without logic, made for political reasons, but Gunner hit back and said it was about saving the lives of Territorians.
The Royal Australasian College of Surgeons supported the end of the open limit.
“No speed limit means anyone driving that stretch of road is really vulnerable,” said Dr Christine Connors, a Royal Australasian College of Physicians fellow.
Gunner also noted car companies were free to apply for permits to test cars on NT roads, as other companies including Ford, Bentley, and the UK TV show Top Gear, had done in the past.
Bentley’s advertisement featuring its car being driven at 300km/h in the zone was pulled from YouTube after one complaint was received.
Some NT residents had also expressed concern at Labor’s decision, posting on social media that the open speed limit had been a drawcard for the Red Centre Nats event and the trial car industry had contributed to the Alice Springs economy.
The former CLP government had reintroduced the open speed limit in a trial capacity, and then expanded it in July last year after $3m of roadworks were completed.
Defenders of the open speed limit section noted that no deaths were recorded during the trial period, but the Northern Territory road toll is about three times higher than the national average.
The Stuart Highway is largely two unfenced lanes, and is frequently used by road trains and tourists in caravans during cooler months. It already has a higher maximum speed limits than other states, at 130km/h.
