David Smith (Bean, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

There were 231 truck crash deaths, including 54 drivers. This is a consequence of unviable and deadly contracts that demonstrate a clear link between low pay and poor safety outcomes. Since 2017, 15 delivery riders and a rideshare driver have also died on our roads, with the number likely to be higher but for underreporting.

This week I again met with representatives across the transport sector calling for change, and they provided firsthand accounts of their experiences across the sector. Nabin Adhikari, a delivery driver here in Canberra, told of being paid well under the minimum wage and being forced to work upwards of 80 hours a week to make ends meet. He and other drivers also shared the pressure they felt to take risks while driving to make the deliveries fast enough to avoid being deactivated from delivery platforms.

Workers in both the trucking industry and the gig economy shared their concern that their job depended on them taking unnecessary risks. It is this pressure that has driven the rise in deaths on our roads. No workers in any industry should feel the need to compromise their wellbeing and safety to keep their job. This parliament can ensure that those loopholes that have created this danger are closed.

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