Glenn Sterle (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

They do know what they are talking about; they have not been stuck in an office all their lives. I can tell you, Minister, it would probably do you good to get out to the trucking areas in Footscray or Kewdale and actually talk to real people who perform these duties and who rely on their unions to negotiate on their behalf. I would like the minister to take this in, as I would also like the senators opposite to take this in: a lot of them are members of a union because they do what they do best—that is, loading, unloading and driving their vehicles, their trucks, their road trains. That is why they went into it, because they are very good at what they do. In about 80 or 85 per cent of small businesses that are engaged in transport in this great country, the wife or the partner at home is running the business—the man drives the truck, although in quite a few examples the woman drives the truck, and they do that very well; they do not wear the blue singlet but they do that very well—and is taking the phone calls because another letter has come with a stamp and a finger with a ribbon tied around it saying: ‘Reminder: your tyre bill is now 30 days overdue. You know your $17,000 fuel bill? Guess what: that is overdue too.’ It is the wives and partners who are doing all the hard yards.

When the boss goes to renegotiate a contract with a major mining company or whatever, the major mining company normally says ‘Sharpen your pencil.’ When a contract like that is plonked down in front of these people, how the heck do they sharpen their pencil? I will tell you how they sharpen their pencil. For those opposite, who would not have a clue—if they do have a clue, they should hang their heads in shame if they are not defending truck drivers around this country who rely on certain bills to protect them—they go out and say: ‘Boys and girls, you pay so much for your fuel, you pay so much for your tyres and you pay so much for your insurance. We pay roughly the same. We might have a little bit more bargaining power, but we’re not buying vehicles. We’re not employing people; you’re doing all that. You need to sharpen your pencil. If you don’t like it, tough.’ That is exactly what happens.

So, Minister it could not be further from the truth to come out and lead Australia to think that truckies sit down and negotiate intense contracts when they enter into agreements when carting or hauling for a company, and that is no slur upon the great men and women in the trucking industry around this country. I think that it is quite insulting of the minister to even assume that and for him to jump up and attack my colleague Senator Marshall. If we are going to play by the rules, both sides should play.