Steve Hutchins (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

One of the things you can use as a barometer of how well we are going in this place is how angry Senator Macdonald gets. The angrier Senator Macdonald gets, the better we are going and the better we are delivering. You just saw an example of that then, Mr Acting Deputy President Bishop, in how cranky he was because we are delivering.

I do not recall using the word ‘boondoggle’ at all. Mr Beazley may have used it. It may be a Western Australian thing, with you and Senator Sterle being Western Australians, Mr Acting Deputy President Bishop. It may be a word used by them—I do not know—but for some of my colleagues that is too big a word. We would not even be able to spell it.

I only have a few minutes to contribute today, but I do need to take issue with some of the points that Senator Macdonald raised. The Senate this year did reject the heavy vehicle charges legislation and, as Senator Macdonald outlined, it relates to increasing charges for the heavier vehicles. The thing is that the Australian Trucking Association agreed with the government on that package. In fact, with the B-doubles and B-triples, they will pay extra money because that is part of the road user charge. They do take their toll on the road and it is expected that they will have to pay compensation for it. What Senator Macdonald did not outline is the fact that a number of vehicles will have their road user charges reduced, particularly the rigid vehicles that make up the majority of transport in this country.

I want to briefly outline today—and this is part of the package which Senator Macdonald has generously supported, albeit reluctantly it sounded—is that in the AusLink (National Land Transport) Amendment Bill 2008 there is $70 million provided for the facilitation of a safer road transport system. Mostly, that is involved with the construction of a few more truck stops along the highway. That in itself is a good measure to address road safety, but it is not enough. The government announced earlier this year that the National Transport Commission would conduct an inquiry into safer payment systems for heavy vehicle drivers. This inquiry is underway at the moment. One of the things people would expect out of the inquiry is that there is some reform of driver remuneration and payment systems, and I hope not just for employee-drivers but for lorry owner-drivers as well.

This review is overdue. It relates to people pushing themselves to the limit when they really should not be put in that position. Last year 200 deaths occurred as a result of people driving heavy vehicles. The main contributor is fatigue. A recent report by the University of Queensland found that 65.5 per cent of drivers in New South Wales—that is, heavy vehicle drivers—spend over 60 hours a week at work. Nearly 20 per cent of all drivers work more than 80 hours a week. This is a concern that has been highlighted to the National Transport Commission. It puts at risk not only those men and women drivers but also people on the road. That is why the commission has conducted this inquiry.

I want to quote from two men who have given evidence before the inquiry. One is Ken Clinton, who lives in Gosford on the Central Coast of New South Wales. He made the following statement:

I have been offered work with conditions that created an unsafe driving environment. I accepted this work because I was desperate at the time and needed to take care of my family.

I would work all day from 8 am making local deliveries and freight pick ups, my truck would need to be loaded by 7pm and I would drive 5 hours to Tarcutta for a midnight changeover. I would then turn around and drive home, arriving about 5 am, getting about 2 or 3 hours sleep a night. The faster I did this the more time I got at home to sleep.

One night while performing this work I can recall pulling off the road in the middle of nowhere because I was going to sleep and didn’t want to have an accident. I went to sleep as soon as the truck stopped. When I got back to the depot I was abused because the freight was late. I quit because of that.

In my opinion, many employee drivers are paid rates that are unsafe. Drivers who are paid low rates are forced to do more trips to earn a decent living. Those who are paid on kilometre rates are the ones pushing the hours up.

Maurice Girotto, who lives in Werrington in the seat of Lindsay in Sydney’s west and has been carting bitumen for over 20 years, said to the commission:

The rate of remuneration I currently receive is just enough to cover my fixed and variable costs. I am able to cover these costs only because I am in a financial position where I own my equipment and do not have any finance owing. I am also in a position where I am able to do a lot of my own maintenance and repairs. Compared to a driver who has additional cost I’m in a better position. They have to cut down or cut out wages and vehicle maintenance. If you’re in trouble you’ll accept lower rates to get the work.

I congratulate the government on the actions that they have put forward here today. It is long overdue, particularly the highlighting of road safety. Hopefully, when the National Transport Commission completes its inquiry we will be able to address not only hours of work but also rates of pay.