Michelle Rowland (Greenway, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Communications) Share this | Hansard source

I rise in support of the motion and I want to thank my colleague the member for Perth for bringing it to the attention of the House. This is not the first time I have spoken on this issue in the parliament and, in fact, it is something I alluded to even in my first speech in this place. I recognise that truck drivers play a vital role in Australia's economy. In a country so large, they are essential in keeping our industries alive and putting food on our supermarket shelves. They are some of the hardest working people I have ever, and anyone in this place is probably ever likely to meet either.

But we also know that the unrealistic deadlines that are still placed on truck drivers squeeze them of every dollar they earn and can tragically even cost them their lives and the lives of others. The pressures that too many truck drivers are forced to perform under have made truck driving one of the most dangerous industries in our country with a workplace fatality rate of truck drivers 10 times the industrial average. I am privileged to represent around 1,500 professional drivers in my electorate of Greenway. My constituents, these truck drivers, often risk their lives each day when they go to work just so they can support themselves and their families. That is why the Road Safety Remuneration Tribunal was established—to make sure that these people, just like the ones who live in my electorate, are treated with the respect they deserve.

The first order of the tribunal came into effect on 1 May. Essentially, this important order sets out minimum entitlements and requirements for certain road transport drivers, their employers or hirers, and those drivers in the supply chain. This covers drivers who transport any good or material destined for sale or hire by a supermarket chain, and long-distance drivers. This includes requirements regarding safe driving plans for long-distance drivers, work health and safety training, written contracts for drivers and payment requirements for payers. This order is essential to achieving safety and fairness in the road transport industry. For an industry that is expected to grow by 73,000 over the next five years, far exceeding workforce growth in many other parts of the economy, these safety provisions are more important now than ever.

This issue is one very close to my heart. My late campaign director in Greenway, Blacktown resident and ex-truck driver of 45 years, Mr Brian Thomas, was a strong advocate for the safety of truck drivers. He often told me about his own experiences and the immense dangers that all truck drivers face because of the time pressures and the often impossible targets that are enforced. These dangers are the reason that the Road Safety Remuneration Tribunal was established and why it should be retained by this government.

One of my friends from the 43rd Parliament, the former member for Hinkler, was a strong advocate for the safety of truckies on our roads. I am dismayed by the way in which some of the speakers in this debate fail to respect and uphold his grounded and concerned views. On repeal day, the so-called Regulatory Repeal Day, the tribunal was called 'just another bit of red tape'. I heard the previous speaker talk about road infrastructure and how that will be a key part of truck driver safety. Truck driver safety is not just about infrastructure; it is not just about roads. You can have the best road in the world, but a driver—as the member for Perth mentioned—on the deadly cocktail to help them stay awake is not safe. The best road in the world is not going to save that truck driver or people around him.

The Road Safety Remuneration Tribunal is not just another piece of red tape. Any industrial accident is one accident too many. The tribunal exists to ensure fairness for working families. It is there to ensure that women and children in my electorate have a husband and a father who leaves at the beginning of the day and returns safely at the end of it. That is not extra bureaucracy. It is a demonstration of inherent decency and responsible governance.

On this issue, I highlight that in the Senate on 11 December Senator John Williams did call it another piece of red tape when he was talking about the draft road safety remuneration order. He said:

What I am getting to is red tape and paperwork that will not achieve anything. It will not provide safety and will be of no benefit.

I dispute that entirely. I also point to this fact, as the former Minister Albanese highlighted in March 2012 when the tribunal was established:

Road accidents involving heavy vehicles cost our economy an estimated $2.7 billion a year, but the cost to victim’s families can’t be measured.

If saving that amount of money is red tape, then I put it to this parliament that we should be doing everything we can not only to save that amount of money but to save lives.

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