Nola Marino (Forrest, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Sorry, Mr Deputy Speaker. The government’s proposed $70 million supplement, to be spread over four years, is only a fraction of the investment needed to improve safety facilities for our road transport industry. How many rest stops is the government actually going to construct? Are these rest stops going to provide toilets, showers and appropriate lighting? What is the cost of construction and how many of these rest stops will be constructed in Western Australia? With the Western Australian election result of a Liberal-National government, I am reassured somewhat that the new state government will take Western Australia in a stronger, more confident direction, will reinvest in our regional areas and will direct funding to the construction of regional safety facilities for truck drivers.

The AusLink policy now needs to focus on the national standardisation of roads to facilitate a seamless but consistent approach for the transportation of goods across state and territory borders. Australian truck drivers are always very conscious of safety. They know that the multi-combination vehicles such as the B-doubles and B-triples are highly productive, safer and more efficient; and there are fewer trucks on our roads due to these combinations. But, more importantly, I know that each one of these drivers want to get home safely to their families.

There are over 220,000 people employed in the transport industry. Out of these there are 160,600 truck drivers and approximately 365,000 heavy vehicles registered. Our heavy vehicle drivers, like all who participate in the commercial sector, need to be economically viable. Some owner-operators are currently faced with fuel increases of more than $5,000 per month, and those who are not able to increase their freight rates can only absorb these increases for a short period of time before they inevitably close up shop. One large company I am aware of has seen fuel increases go from $5 million a month to over $7 million a month. There are trucking companies that need to increase their freight rates by over 10 percent to bring themselves up to a break-even point—and, if they cannot renegotiate their contracts, they too will shortly be out of business.

Australia’s heavy vehicle drivers acknowledge they should pay their share for the upkeep of roads they use. But they believe they are already paying their fair share through current registration charges. Our heavy vehicle drivers should not be subject to the Labor government increasing registration fees and road charges so that the transport industry can pay yet again for the upgrades to the roads they use. To introduce such tax rises when the cost of living pressures have escalated is a highly inflationary policy and the Rudd Labor government will surely be caught out on its claim that fighting inflation is its No. 1 priority.

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