Transport Safety Initiatives

The Hon. G.A. KANDELAARS (15:28): I rise to speak about the dangers of truck driving, and safety initiatives of the Transport Workers Union. Truck drivers play an essential and vital role in Australia. Without them there would be no food in our supermarket shelves, no construction material available to builders, and no petrol at the pumps. Recently, I participated in a rally organised in the city by the TWU.

The rally was in response to a recent crash on the South-Eastern Freeway resulting in the death of two people who were hit by an out-of-control truck. The rally, 'A silent message loud and clear', called for a crackdown on transport companies after the loss of multiple lives on our roads from poor safety practices.

Unfortunately, truck driving is the most dangerous industry in Australia, with a workplace fatality rate that is 10 times the industrial average. Drivers have been pushed to the edge and beyond by impossible demands made on drivers day after day. Results from a safety survey conducted in 2012, which had nearly 1,000 respondents, showed that 73 per cent of truck drivers working in the Coles supply chain believed that pressure from big retail clients like Coles is a major cause of unsafe practices in the industry.

The 2012 industry survey of one of the major supply chains, Coles, found that 46 per cent of drivers reported economic pressure to skip breaks, 31 per cent felt pressure to exceed safe driving hours, 28 per cent were pressured to speed, 11 per cent felt pressure to take stimulants to stay awake and 26 per cent felt pressure to carry overweight loads. Worryingly, 40 per cent of the survey respondents indicated that these pressures had delayed truck maintenance. Other findings have shown that there is a link between low rates of pay and poor safety practices in the trucking industry.

In response to these issues the then federal Labor government, in 2012, passed the Road Safety Remuneration Act establishing the Road Safety Remuneration Tribunal. The tribunal is a world first and provides a crucial tool in the fight for better safety and fair conditions for truckies. The tribunal has the power to direct the economic pressures on truck drivers and companies from across the entire supply chain. It is the only body that can address road safety industry issues by holding the entire supply chain accountable. It intervenes when transport industry clients use economic pressure to force drivers to speed, skip rest breaks or illegally overload their vehicles in order to meet unrealistic delivery timetables.

Last year, the Abbott government announced a review of the tribunal. We know this is code for axing the tribunal altogether. Whilst the review has not yet been published, at a recent gathering of the Australian Livestock and Rural Transporters Association, Assistant Minister for Infrastructure, Jamie Briggs, suggested it would be scrapped. Interestingly, Coles, which is currently before the Road Safety tribunal, is a major contributor to the Liberal Party and one has to wonder what influence this has played on the federal government's review.

There is a need for greater focus on road safety, not a weaker one. Sadly, this year in South Australia we have already seen 15 truck related fatalities on our roads. If the tribunal is removed it is my fear that this number could jump dramatically. Safety should always come first, but where there is pressure from companies like Coles to skip breaks or maintenance so that truck drivers can make ends meet it means that safety will not be the priority, and safety is critical here. Drivers are also scared that if they speak out they will lose their contracts.

The tribunal is critical in ensuring that safety is upheld, not just the safety of truck drivers but the safety of all Australians who use our roads. The tribunal should not be scrapped by the Abbott government and I commend the TWU for its Safe Rates campaign and its focus on road safety.