Queensland Attorney-General Yvette D'Ath has announced plans to introduce legislation holding commercial vehicle registration holders to determinations by the Advertising Standards Bureau (ASB).
This would mean the registration of any commercial vehicle with slogans deemed to be offensive or that otherwise failed to comply with the ASB's standards, such as those on Wicked Campers vans, could be cancelled.
D'Ath said the slogans on some Wicked Campers vehicles were the subject of “community concern” and frequent complaints to the ASB. In the five years to 2015 49 complaints about Wicked Campers' slogans were upheld on the grounds of discrimination, vilification, violence, sex, sexuality and nudity. The company made no response.
“When the ASB has deemed those slogans to be offensive, the typical response from the holders of those commercial vehicle registrations has been deafening silence,” D'Ath said. “Now, if they refuse to remove the offensive slogans, their vehicles will be off the road.”
She hoped the laws enforcing the arrangement – a collaboration with the ASB and the state transport bureau – would be put before parliament by the end of the year but urged owners of vehicles that might be affected to “see the writing on the wall” and remove the catchphrases before then.
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