Neil Williams ) gurgled happily, sounding much like
they were saying :

Having a discussion in work on Friday a country was mentioned where
the basic third-party mandatory insurance for road vehicles was
provided by the state. We then went on to suggest the idea of having
this here, with the charge for insurance being on the price of petrol,
thus making it impossible to drive without insurance.

I think Aus and NZ do that - amongst others. It's a part of the annual
registration charge - akin to our tax disk, but the plates themselves are
issued by the authorities, and replaced every year, closer to the model of
the States.