Rick Wilson (O'Connor, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I know the member for Flynn, who spoke before me, certainly does, and the member for Wright, who will be following me, certainly does. It gives you a great perspective of what we are discussing here today—particularly as having a road train licence enables me to tow three trailers. And as someone who has driven a road train, I understand the fatigue management protocols in place, the maintenance matrix and the driver scheduling, which were already mandatory aspects of our heavy vehicle safety requirements. We have discussed safety here a lot today, and I have found that while most truck drivers are very professional in the way they drive on the road, some of the car drivers that interact with road trains on the road leave a lot to be desired.

Just to put a bit of perspective on what this legislation is all about, I want to quote Mr Michael Wong, who worked for the TWU from 2009 to 2012 and who helped deliver the political campaign for the establishment of the RSRT. He provided a remarkable insight into the TWU's mindset and priorities. He said:

Fundamentally the union doesn’t care about owner-drivers, it cares about its income and the political power it can achieve. The practical effect of the RSRT is to push owner-drivers out of the market.

These owner-drivers work incredibly hard, often with a spouse or partner contributing to the family business. Like all small business owners, they have many reasons why they have chosen their vocation. For some it might simply be that they just want to be their own boss. Others may be striving to be the next Lindsay Fox. I am proud to know owner-drivers from both ends of the spectrum, and all points in between across my electorate.

I would like to provide some evidence of the impact the RSRT rates will have on owner-drivers within WA, and those servicing the east-west freight route across the Nullarbor. Coolgardie-based small business B&C Parsissons Transport co-owner Bryan Parsissons is one of the owner-operators opposed to the RSRT order. He said in the Kalgoorlie Miner last week:

The order would decimate his business if introduced, and could have massive impacts on the cost of transporting goods between the Goldfields and Perth. "Prices could eventually triple" he said. "Every single thing, except the water from the pipeline, every single thing could potentially triple."

Another driver I would like to quote is Glenn Kendall, aka Yogi. Some may recognise Yogi from Outback Truckers;he starred in several episodes. He also has a regular spot on ABC Drive radio. But Yogi and his wife, Amanda, run a family business. He has provided me with some examples of the effect on his business. He said:

Example 1: Currently we are paid $2904 to move a machine from Fremantle to Esperance one way. Under the RSRT if the client requires me to come straight back to get another load, they now have to pay both ways. So we now need to charge a total of $3321.62.

That equates to 35 hours work time at $31.26 for every hour I am loaded, including rest breaks and overnight sleeping. The client also needs to pay $1.54/km. Which is a 1452 km round trip at $1.54 = unemployment. Because as you can clearly see … by being paid for every hour and every km, we are not viable and will not be used. The three or more truck company can charge whatever they like.

Example 2: Based on the current market for freight from Katanning WA to Wangaratta Victoria the rate is approximately $6,000. Under the RSRT we need to charge for 3,415km @ $1.54/km = $5,259.10 + 84 hours @ $31.26 = $2,2625.84.

With a total of $7,884.94. Again this is our set safe rate, which as you can clearly see is $1,884.94 above the current market value. Once again, I reiterate, the big company can charge whatever they like.

This two-tiered pricing system punishes the owner-driver sector for no demonstrable improvement in road safety. My experience is owner-drivers are extremely diligent with the maintenance and roadworthiness of their trucks. The reason for this is they cannot afford to have their truck off the road due to a breakdown. A larger trucking company can schedule maintenance and absorb the costs of having a prime mover off the road. An owner-driver cannot do that, and has to put in the hours ensuring their own truck is roadworthy and will not fail them on a job.

I would like to quote from owner-driver Yogi again, to underline the professional approach that these businessmen and women take. Yogi said:

Just the ridiculous notion of getting a safe rate which will in turn make me, as an owner driver, SAFER is beyond thinking!! We run a very strict safety program because of the sheer nature of my work in country Western Australia and operating interstate. I cannot afford to have a maintenance issue stuck half way between Katanning and the eastern seaboard. The cost alone to ship parts to the truck would financially kill us!! We run a full maintenance program which includes servicing every 10,000 km of the truck and trailer. We also have the vehicle fully inspected every 50,000 km which includes truck and trailer 'over the pits' to inspect everything.

It has clearly been shown that there is no evidence of safety provided by the tribunal. There is no sound evidence showing that employee truck drivers are less likely to be involved in an accident than owner-drivers. The analysis, in fact, shows that road safety in the heavy transport sector continues to improve. Despite a steadily increasing number of large road combinations carrying out more movements each year, road incidents involving these trucks continue to trend down. Deaths from heavy vehicle crashes in Australia have fallen by more than 20 per cent in the last decade, from 262 in 2005 to 192 in 2015.

This is still too many, but this coalition government is taking steps to improve road safety. The National Heavy Vehicle Regulator will be better resourced, with the $4 million from the RSRT redirected to improve road safety for all. The coalition government has committed $50 billion to improving road infrastructure across the nation. Just one of those investments includes $36 million of federal government funds for the Great Eastern Highway, one of the key highways in O'Connor and also one of the key links between the east and the west of Australia. Last week the Minister for Infrastructure and Transport announced over $5.6 million in black-spot funding in O'Connor, and we have previously seen $3 million invested in road safety pull-overs across the electorate. Some of the programs this government is rolling out include the Heavy Vehicle Safety and Productivity Program, the Black Spot Program, the Roads to Recovery program and the Bridges Renewal Program.

In conclusion, I implore the members of this House and those in the other place to support the passage of the Road Safety Remuneration Repeal Bill 2016 and support the hardworking truckers in my electorate of O'Connor and across the nation.

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