Road Transport Requirements

The Hon. G.G. BROCK (Stuart) (14:26): My question is to the Minister for Transport and Infrastructure. Can the minister advise the house if the commonwealth government has changed the design rules to allow for wider trucks on Australian roads in line with overseas markets and removing the width limits on our trucks to accommodate a shift to electric road vehicle freight transport? Mr Speaker, with your leave, I will elaborate a bit further.

Leave granted.

The Hon. G.G. BROCK: I have had correspondence from some constituents that the commonwealth government changed the rules in November 2023 to allow the width to be increased from 2.5 metres to 2.55 metres, plus the weight limit on the front axle from 6.5 tonnes to 7.5 tonnes. Has this actually happened and, if so, what impact will these changes have on our transport industry with the current road conditions not only on state roads but also local government roads?

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens—Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Minister for Energy and Mining) (14:26): Finally a decent question. I can inform the house—

The Hon. D.G. Pisoni: You should rehearse in front of the mirror first, Tom.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: When I stand in front of a mirror, it doesn't crack, and I can actually see my reflection.

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Yes, that's right. Yes, I can confirm that in August, that change was made and it has had a dramatic impact. The increase by 50 millimetres might not sound like much but it actually does have an impact, and these amendments were finalised in August 2024 and are now operating as the Heavy Vehicle National Law in participating jurisdictions like South Australia. This is good for regional communities, it is good for freight, it is good for farmers, it is good for manufacturers.

The additional width limit is now to new trucks fitted with a number of specific safety features such as lane departure warning and blind spot information systems. It is not being done carte blanche. We have got to make sure that there are requirements in place and these eligible vehicles have the right to access the road network and they are known as Safer Freight Vehicles.

Most importantly, the impact of allowing greater width prime movers was assessed by my department, the Department for Infrastructure and Transport, and I have been advised that for South Australia's roads, no significant risks or impacts of this change have been identified. So this has been a long overdue change, it has been a good change, and it means we can have a greater amount of choice of vehicles that can operate on South Australian roads. It applies not only to prime movers to allow the accommodation of improved emissions technologies, it does not increase the allowable width for trailers.

I am advised that the primary driver for national reform was the Euro 6 emissions standard, which will become the mandated standard in the near future, which is set at a national level. South Australia is a small market, so having a maximum vehicle width smaller than in much larger markets like Europe makes it difficult for OEMs, like Volvo, to justify servicing the Australian market with new technology solutions like low-emission trucks and EV trucks. These changes allow us to have a broader reach to global markets which allow a greater selection of these vehicles to be here in South Australia.

If this change had not been made, larger OEMs would need to manufacture a whole separate line of vehicles just to service Australia. A more likely scenario is we would be stuck with old generation, old-tech prime movers. In terms of the weight, which is an important change that the member raised—he is a keen advocate for regional South Australia—the Australian weight limit on the front axle from 6.5 tonnes to 7.5 tonnes for electric trucks referred to in the article is an industry proposal. DIT is not aware of this being actively considered by the Australian government at this time.

If an increased weight limit for general access were to be proposed, we would need to assess the potential impact and be consulted in the national process. I am up for that consultation because we can sweat our infrastructure harder because we can get fewer vehicles with larger loads on our roads, which means less traffic and greater productivity. So we are up for this discussion. The question is whether or not the commonwealth government are. I am actively encouraging them to do so.