Lisa Singh

Following today’s announcement of a compulsory recall for vehicles fitted with deadly Takata airbags, I am urging Tasmanians to check the list of vehicles to see if their car is in danger of having the faulty airbags.

The list is available on the Product Safety Australia website at: https://www.productsafety.gov.au/news/takata-airbag-recalls-affecting-australian-consumers.

I welcome today’s announcement, which has finally come after more than 6 months of dithering and delay from the Turnbull Government.

Labor has been calling for the Government to use its emergency powers and immediately issue a recall notice for the ‘Alpha’ type bags since August 2017.

According to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, the airbags are in 60 types of cars sold in Australia including Toyotas, Mazdas, Hondas, BMWs, Chryslers, Lexus’, Mitsubishis, Nissans, Subarus and several other models.

Takata’s ‘Alpha’ type airbags were found to have a failure rate of one in two, compared with a lower failure rate of other types of Takata airbags.

Over 20 deaths worldwide – including at least one in Australia – have been linked to faulty Takata airbags, together with other reports of serious injuries and countless near misses.

In fact, the problem is worse than we thought. The ACCC revealed today that around 2.7 million Australian motorists and their families are at risk of these ticking time bombs.

This remains a significant threat to the safety of Tasmanian motorists and their families who are driving around with ‘Alpha’ Takata airbags in their cars. ‘Alpha’ airbags have detonators that degrade over time and misfire, potentially spraying shrapnel throughout a car’s cabin.

Tasmanian motorists have been exposed to unnecessary risks of injury whilst this government has dithered and done nothing for more than 6 months.

This recall is horribly overdue.

WEDNESDAY, 28 FEBRUARY 2018

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