Gai Brodtmann (Canberra, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Defence) Share this | Hansard source

Labor are defending the Road Safety Remuneration Tribunal because we know there is a link between pay and safety. The Turnbull government's own commissioned figures show the Road Safety Remuneration Tribunal will reduce truck crashes by 28 per cent by 2020. We also know what happens when truckies are not paid a fair wage. It means cutting corners to cut costs. It means all of a sudden it is more important to get cargo from point A to point B quickly than safely. It means emphasising speed over safety, which is why we see drivers taking fewer breaks, even though we know it is safer if they take more. We see drivers spending less time on maintenance, even though we know it is safer if they spend more time on it.

On this front, the Road Safety Remuneration Tribunal is a game changer. Road fatalities must not become a cost of doing business. When I see truckies on the highway sitting behind the wheel of 42 tonnes of steel, I want to know they are fed. I want to know they are rested. I want to know they are alert, and I want to know they are safe. That is because when they are safe so are their families, so are their businesses and, most importantly, so are our roads. Truck drivers should not have to risk their lives to make a living.

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