Move to national regulations takes a step closer with appointment of board to oversee end of cross-border inconsistencies
By Brad Gardner | June 25, 2010
The move to national regulations has taken a step forward with the appointment of a board to oversee the end of cross-border inconsistencies.
The Managing Director of Main Roads Western Australia, Menno Henneveld (pictured), will chair a board of government representatives overseeing the project team responsible for establishing the national regulator.
The board includes Ann King from the NSW Roads and Traffic Authority and VicRoads Chief Executive Gary Liddle.
Alan Tesch from Queensland Transport and Main Roads will also join Nick Dimopoulos from the National Transport Commission on the board.
Lyn O’Connell from the Department of Infrastructure and Transport is the federal representative on the board.
The regulator will be introduced in Queensland 2013 to end cross-border inconsistencies, in turn reducing the administrative burden on industry and increasing productivity.
Queensland will be responsible for passing laws through its parliament, with other jurisdictions then introducing legislation to ensure national consistency.
“Mr Henneveld is widely respected by the road industry throughout Australia and has a wealth of experience to bring to his role as chair of the project poard that will oversee the establishment of the national heavy vehicle regulator,” WA Transport Minister Simon O’Brien says.
The board will also be responsible for ensuring there is widespread consultation with the industry on the move to national laws.
Henneveld already holds other positions, including the prime ministerial appointment as the Australia’s first delegate to the World Road Association and Chair of the Austroads International Committee.
Australian Livestock Transporters Association (ALTA) Executive Director Philip Halton says the decision to select Henneveld is a good step.
“The challenge facing Menno will be immense,” he says.
“But when you look at the productivity gains that WA has achieved over the years, and the way Queensland has traditionally handled its relationship with industry…it’s good that those two states are so intimately involved in getting it [the regulator] along.”
Earlier this year Nationals Senator Fiona Nash cited cross-border problems plaguing trucking operators carting hay bales, saying the width of a stack is three metres in Victoria but 2.83 metres in NSW.
Nationals Senator John Williams says says livestock operators face “a huge problem” in northern NSW because they get to the Queensland border and need to unload up to 15 percent of their stock to comply.