Despite the long-held belief Weipa residents were exempt from obtaining roadworthy certificates for vehicle purchases and sales, the Department of Transport and Main Roads has confirmed this was never the case, and has launched a review into creating an exemption zone like other parts of Cape York. Photo: Supplied.
Despite confusion and what appears to be bureaucratic oversight, Weipa residents will not have to obtain a roadworthy certificate for buying and selling vehicles for the next 12 months after an interim exemption was put in place last week.
In Queensland, vehicle ownership can be transferred without a roadworthy certificate if the seller resides in an exempt remote area, such as Cape York.
This exemption was believed to include Weipa and has been treated as such by vehicle owners and local State Government staff until it was discovered last month the Weipa Town Authority (WTA) area, as well as some other communities outside the Cook Shire Council boundary, were not eligible under current legislation.
WTA Chair Jaime Gane said there had been plenty of confusion on the ground after government staff suddenly started telling Weipa residents they needed to obtain a safety certificate.
“It definitely caused a bit of head scratching trying to figure out what had changed, but after doing some digging, it appears that it’s just another case of our unique existence that makes us different to the rest,” she said.
“Someone messaged me on Facebook, and I had a couple of phone calls from concerned and confused residents; I assume that there were no comms put out about a change, because nothing actually changed.
“When you look into it, Weipa have never been listed as exempt according to the legislation, but I think some people in [the Department of Transport and Main Roads] down south were under the impression that Weipa was part of Cook Shire, until someone recently questioned it.”
In a social media post on 26 June, Ms Gane told the community she had received confirmation the exemption would take effect from 1 July for 12 months, “during which time they (the government) will make the necessary changes to legislation to make it permanent”.
She called the interim exemption a positive result, and said she believed there was a case to ensure all of Cape York remained an exemption zone.
A TMR spokesperson confirmed to the Cape York Weekly a review of the situation was now under way.
“The Department of Transport and Main Roads can confirm that Weipa is not currently an exempt area for the purpose of safety certificates or certificates of inspection (COI), nor has Weipa ever been legislated as an exempt area,” they said.
“TMR has recently been made aware of the widely held misunderstanding that, for the purpose of safety certificates and COIs, Weipa is an exempt area within the Cook Shire local government area.
“TMR is currently undertaking a review of Weipa’s current status as a non-exempt area.”
