Mr HOGAN (Page) (14:54): My question is to the Minister for Infrastructure and Transport. I refer the minister to comments made by Toll Holdings recently. They said:
… we don’t believe the RSRT is the best way to improve safety for either big or small operators …
Will the minister outline the government’s efforts to improve safety in the heavy vehicle industry?
Mr Perrett interjecting—
The SPEAKER: The member for Moreton will leave under 94(a). He has been warned already.
The member for Moreton then left the chamber.
Mr CHESTER (Gippsland—Minister for Infrastructure and Transport) (14:54): I thank the member for Page for his question. I note his long-running passion for road safety in his electorate and also his support for the small business sector in his community and his support for the heavy vehicle sector. What a great champion he has been for regional Australia in his role as the member for Page. I had the opportunity last week to be in Lismore and we met with representatives from the local transport sector. We met with drivers and vehicle suppliers, and they were all urging us to help protect them from the are RSRT and its rulings. Everyday Australians should not have to come to Canberra to fight for their jobs, but that is what we have seen in the last 48 hours. They have had to spend thousands of dollars of their own money to come to Canberra to fight to keep their own jobs—owner-drivers on the front lawns of Parliament House, fighting to keep their own jobs.
We on this side want to fight to keep their jobs as well. We want to come in here and vote to protect their jobs. It remains to be seen whether those opposite want to come in here and sack them. That is what we are going to find out in the next 24 hours. We on this side want to fight to protect their jobs and we are about to find out whether those on the other side want to sack them.
Every member of this place cares about road safety, but the RSRT has nothing to do with road safety. It discriminates against owner-drivers, who are the backbone of the heavy vehicle industry.
Opposition members interjecting—
Mr CHESTER: Those opposite are quick to jump in. But I refer to the comments made by former TWU official Mr Michael Wong. Mr Wong said:
… fundamentally, the union doesn’t care about owner-drivers, it cares about its income and the political power it can achieve …
It cares about its income and the political power it can achieve. Contrast this with the government’s approach. Safety is at the basis of the government’s plan for the heavy vehicle sector. We are working with the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator that is in place, and we want to expand its role. We have $50 billion allocated to the biggest infrastructure investment program in Australia’s history in safer roads around our nation, with the Black Spot Program being rolled out across the nation, and heavy vehicle rest areas—all practical measures to improve safety in the heavy vehicle sector. Now, the NHVR already has a comprehensive work strategy in place. It is utilising technology to address the issue of fatigue management. It has programs in place for inspections of the heavy vehicle sector and for enforcement across Australia. We acknowledge that there is more work to be done; work on road safety is never ending.
In public life, we all make mistakes. Once in a while we make mistakes, and those opposite can choose to help fix them or they can try and continue to block our efforts to clean up the mess left behind. I urge those opposite to be part of the solution—to help us get behind Australian owner-drivers, help get them back on the road and help them to do the job they do safely, on behalf of the Australian community.