Glenn Lazarus (Queensland, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

Because I thought it was put together with good intent. Clearly, I was mistaken. A couple of weeks I apologised for my actions on voting to keep this RSRT established. I was clearly wrong. But it was with good intent that I voted for it.

Today, as we sit here in this building, owner truck drivers are going broke across the country. Mum and dad truckies are losing their trucks, their homes, their families and their lives

Queensland is in mourning, as last week in Queensland we lost a truckie by the name of Adam Caton due to the compounded stress that this RSRT had brought upon him. I send my sincere condolences—

Senator Singh interjecting—

A bit of respect, Senator Singh. I send my sincere condolences to his family and friends at this difficult time.

I think we all agree that we need safer roads. We all agree Australians need a fair day's pay for a fair day's work. The intent of the RSRT order was probably good, as I have said, but the order in its application has resulted in unintended consequences. It has resulted in the decimation of an entire owner-driver trucking sector. The issue is now a complete mess. We need to abolish this tribunal and the order today—right now, without further delay. There are some 35,000 owner truck drivers in this country, and all of them are in limbo, not knowing what their future holds.

The funds from the tribunal, I think, need to be directed to the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator, and the Heavy Vehicle Regulator needs to be given more teeth, even though the trucking industry is one of the most heavily regulated industries in this country. I have no doubt that the owner truck drivers love their trucks with a passion. I have seen well over 300 or 400 trucks in the last couple of weeks, and every one of them was immaculate. You would swear they had just come off the showroom floor. We also need to develop an industry code of conduct, which should sit with the ACCC, to ensure there are fair trading and business practices across the industry. We need the code of conduct to ensure that the big boys do not take advantage of the mum and dad truckie businesses. It is only fair that owner-drivers deserve to be paid within 30 days, not 90 or 120 days, and they deserve to be treated fairly. The RSRT order regulates the victims in this industry, when it is the big boys who should be regulated.

I have met quite a few owner-driver truckies. Their trucks, as I said, are immaculate. They care for their trucks like their treasure. They drive trucks and own trucks because they are passionate about what they do and they love doing what they do. They are kept to a high standard and they are safe. Over 80 per cent of trucking accidents on our roads are not the fault of the truck drivers—they are the fault of cars and the drivers of those cars.

If we look across our communities, owner truck drivers are responsible for many initiatives, including—we have just seen it—the Burrumbuttock Hay Run and the Convoy for Kids. I was in Townsville late last year and joined in the carnival. There were hundreds of trucks, and 80 to 90 per cent of them were owner-drivers—not trucks from big transport companies, but owner-drivers. Eighty per cent of the trucks in the Burrumbuttock Hay Run are owner-drivers. Owner-drivers are the heart and soul of our country. I think they are the very fabric of this country. They keep us going. They do the jobs that need to be done that the big companies will not do. When we have debated this issue we have heard the example of farmer John wanting a couple of head of cattle taken up the road. The truckie will do it for $150, but now he has to charge $748 to haul those same cattle because of this order. It is an absolute disgrace.

They donate their haulage for the charity initiatives that need to be supported. They do much across our country and today we need to do something for them. We need to give them back the right to drive their trucks on our nation's roads, because that is what they do best. That is what they are passionate about and that is what they love doing.

I would like to take a couple of minutes to thank some people that I have come across in the last month or so in regard to this issue. I would like to send out special thanks to Rodney Chant. He is a Queensland truckie who has worked tirelessly with me and many other truckies in Queensland to see this mess resolved. He absolutely loves what he does and loves working in the industry. He loves the mates and the friendships that he has created through his truck driving and he was absolutely shattered by this order. I would certainly like to thank him for the hard work that he has done in helping this parliament abolish this ridiculous order.

I would also like to thank Kylie Robinson. Kylie is part of the Trucking Support Agency in Queensland, and I would dearly love to thank her and her husband for their tireless work in supporting drivers. Kylie was keeping me up to date with all the committee hearings and things. Wherever I turned up for a trucking rally, there was Kylie, front and centre, making sure that everything was running smoothly. I would also like to thank Di, who is a part of Trans-Help, and I would also like to thank Natasha Schipp of Lights on the Hill Trucking Memorial for her wonderful work in supporting truckies across Queensland and ultimately across this country.

My commitment to you, the trucking industry and all the owner truck drivers is that I will abolish the tribunal and the order. I am now seeking the support of the Senate to achieve this. I want to do this because I want owner-drivers to be able to continue to do what they absolutely love doing, and that is driving their trucks, so they can get back to work.