I thank the member for Liverpool for sponsoring this petition. As the member for a neighbouring electorate, I say that my community feels a similar sense of grief and loss as hers. Next Monday will officially mark my 12 months in the job as the member for Leppington. In those 12 months I have had countless meetings, delivered plenty of speeches and got on with the job of delivering for my community. It has had its many ups and occasional downs, but nothing has been more difficult than the meeting I had with Angelina and Ayeanna, a mother and sister who have had their children and siblings snatched from them. I first met with them in October, not two months after the terrible tragedy. What can you say in that situation? No words can comfort them or soothe their loss.

The accident that took Alina and Ernesto is about three or four kilometres from my house. It is a five‑minute drive on a road I have driven down road plenty of times. I am a father of two kids—a 16-year-old daughter, who is learning to drive, and a 14-year-old son. Both are around the same age as Ernesto was. Only this week, my wife and I were chatting about how close our kids are and how my daughter, Nia, like any good big sister, looks out for her little brother, Evan. That is what Alina was doing on that tragic night when she went to pick up Ernesto from his part-time job. As we know, they never came home. For any parent this is unthinkable; it was also avoidable.

This important petition has come about because of the determination of Angelina to ensure that no mother or parent needs to feel the immense grief that she has lived with each and every day since that tragic night. She has worked day and night to get signatures on this important petition. She has been ably assisted by friends and supporters across New South Wales. Among them are Michelle Willmer and the Dimovski family, who are in the gallery. I also thank other members of the community who assisted in getting this over the line, including Michael Andjelkovic, a constituent of mine who designed flyers and mobilised his extensive community networks to get the signatures required. That work was instrumental in getting us to where we are today. In the media, I thank in particular Chris O'Keefe and Robert Ovadia for covering the story and pushing the petition multiple times on both TV and radio. I also thank each and every one of the 20,000 or so signatories from across New South Wales. They recognise the need for change. Finally, I pay tribute to Angelina and Ayeanna. I am in awe of their continuing strength. None of this would have been possible without their strength and tenacity.

The Law Reform Commission is currently undertaking a review into road crime offences. That review is considering whether the existing serious road crime offences, and the law on accessorial liability, are fit for purpose; whether the maximum sentences and sentencing principles are appropriate and relevant; and, most importantly, the experience and rights of victims of serious road crimes and their families in the criminal justice system. The review was announced by the now Opposition leader in 2022 in his capacity Attorney General at the time. That means that we have bipartisan support on this issue, which is critically important. A consultation paper is currently out for feedback, and I encourage the community to have their say.

Angelina has been clear with her feedback. When someone is suspended from driving, commits dangerous driving occasioning death, fails to stop and assist, tries to cover up their involvement and shows little to no remorse, she wants the sentence to be life in jail. She also wants consideration of compulsory defensive driving courses, especially for young drivers, and uniform laws across all jurisdictions. The Parliament is currently considering additional powers relating to the use of social media in serious road crime, and I thank the Attorney General for his work on that. But there is more to be done. I eagerly await the handing down of the review, as I am sure many in this Chamber and the gallery do, and I remain committed to doing everything in my power to prevent tragedies like this one ever occurring again.