Ministers join NRFA at Hopkins Brothers depot for talks on red tape burden
The federal government is taking heed of industry calls on truck cabin size limits and lessening red tape in Australia, it has emerged, after Hopkins Brothers rolled out the ministerial carpet for an industry roundtable at its Rockhampton depot.
The tour and discussion involved the National Road Freighters Association (NRFA) representatives; deputy prime minister and minister for infrastructure, transport and regional development Michael McCormack; assistant minister for road safety and freight transport Scott Buchholz; and Member for Capricornia Michelle Landry.
Company director and NRFA president Tony Hopkins was joined by vice president Gordo Mackinlay, who also heads up Mackinlay Transport in Holbrook, New South Wales, to lobby on behalf of the association.
Hopkins says the meeting was to “discuss some of the issues that have hamstrung the industry”, taking a keen focus on cab size in Australia.
“The way things are heading, the profitability is being taken out of our industry and we’re asking for Michael’s help to turn it around,” he says.
“What we need is a lot of the red tape taken away.
“Community safety is a big thing in our industry – we value that safety immensely. But when the profitability is taken out of the industry, the first thing to suffer is safety.
“So we’re asking Michael’s and Michelle’s help so we can put some profitability back into the industry and safety will look after itself.
“One of the examples I have here is a cab that is available over in the United States, which is the standard minimum for truck drivers to live and work in, against what we’re forced to have today.
“It was a good opportunity to show Michael to take back and try and get that changed so the truck driver can be treated as a human in this industry.”
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From left: Hopkins, Buchholz, McCormack, Landry and Mackinlay
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In a statement, Mackinlay reiterates that, along with cab size, the meeting also covered topics such as minimum rates (“how to get it right”), fuel-based registration schemes, compliance burdens, and safety issues related to the restrictions imposed on prime mover/combination lengths.
“Mack Trucks supplied both a standard-issue bonneted 34-pallet B-double-compliant prime mover as well as an American cab/sleeper combination, which is ‘too long’ in Australia yet provides a more liveable, therefore safer place for drivers to live.
“All our guests inspected both setups and were able to understand what our problem was.
“We were asked to provide answers to all our problems. The answers need to come from within the industry – most problems occur when they are the result of non-industry input.
“On behalf of National Road Freighters Association, I thank all the politicians we have worked with in the past, present and into the future.”
GOVERNMENT RESPONSE
While not explicitly committing to a position on cab size, when asked what the next step after the meeting at Hopkins Brothers will be, McCormack says his aim is to “[make] sure that we can cut out unnecessary regulations”.
“We’ll look at the Transport Infrastructure Council; we’ll look at what we can do as ministers of state and the territories and the federal government to ensure that we get the best possible outcomes.
“There are many ministers and I appreciate that whilst we have different political persuasions, we all want to make sure that we build a better Australia; we all want to make sure that we build a better regional Australia.
“We can do that when we can help transport companies like Hopkins and like Mackinlay, and indeed all the transport companies across Australia.
“We can do it with better regulation, with better laws and, as Tony Hopkins often tells me, making sure that we can cut out those unnecessary regulations … some of the red tape that does burden these sorts of companies.”
He states that his party has worked to cut red tape out of legislation – delivering a $5.8 billion saving per year since 2013 – “but we can and we must and we will do more.”
“Having the opportunity to listen to these operators here enhances our ability to make the right decisions into the future,” Buchholz adds.
Read about the transport allocation in this year’s Budget, here
Another takeaway from the meeting is that the message about heavy vehicle-involved fatalities is cutting through in Canberra as well, following McCormack’s commentary on the matter.
“All too often when there is an accident and sometimes with fatal consequences, involving a heavy vehicle, the blame is shifted directly and immediately onto the truck driver when the circumstances are not even well-known,” he says.
“But the fact is, 90 per cent of accidents involving a heavy vehicle are not the fault of the heavy vehicle driver.
“They cop a bad rap, but we want to make sure that we give them every possible opportunity to make sure that they continue to do the fine job that they do, for and on behalf of Australia; but certainly regional Australia.”