The road safety message emblazoned on many Victorian car numberplates will be scrapped in favour of “The Education State” if Labor are elected on 29 November.
Two years after the Victorian numberplate was changed to read; “Stay Alert, Stay Alive”, Andrews hopes to replace it, he announced on Wednesday.
“For as long as we can remember, numberplate slogans have been part of the evolving identity of our great state,” Andrews said. “Under Labor, education will be more than just a word – it will be a rock solid foundation for our economic future.”
When then premier Ted Baillieu announced the “Stay Alert, Stay Alive” slogan to parliament in 2012, Andrews supported the message, Hansard records show.
“I congratulate the premier on the initiative he has announced today,” Andrews told the Legislative Assembly at the time.
“I reiterate that all sides of this house are strongly committed to making sure that we do whatever we can to spare as many families as possible the heartache and the pain of road trauma.”
A spokesman for the premier, Denis Napthine, said it was disappointing Labor would not continue to support road safety.
“The Coalition believes motorists should see a road safety message when stopped behind other vehicles, not a political one,” he said.
The Greens Victorian upper house member, Greg Barber, has also previously said numberplate slogans should focus on road safety.
In the past 25 years Victorian plates have also described the state as “The Place To Be”, “On The Move” and “The Garden State”. But the slogan has never been political, and other Australian states and territories have also stuck with more tourism-related themes.
Tasmania has been known as “The Natural State” and “The Apple Isle”, while South Australia was dubbed “The Festival State” and New South Wales was previously known as “The Premier State”. Western Australia was briefly the “State of Excitement” and Queensland was known as “The Smart State” until 2012, when the slogan was scrapped in the name of cost-cutting.
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