ADJOURNMENT: Road Transport Industry

Senator NASH (New South Wales) (7.38 pm)—Just over two weeks ago I was given the oppor-tunity to join the Australian Trucking Association’s driver of the year, Des Bailey, and experience the reality of Australian roads from a truckie’s perspective. Senator Conroy —Well done! Senator NASH —Thank you. Des, who is a professional truck driver with Herb Blanchard Transport of Grafton on the state’s mid-north coast, was on a week-long drive from Tarcutta, in the New South Wales south-west, up to Grafton in a Volvo FH16. He was showing politicians what life is like in a truck on the roads. Des’s driving record is certainly worthy of note. Over his 30-year career he has driven more than five million kilometres, only received one traffic infringement and had no accidents, and I think that is a pretty terrific record. After leaving Tarcutta, Des drove his new Volvo—a 610 horsepower Volvo which is said to be the most powerful and comfortable and safest truck ever built by Volvo—up to the end of the state, going through Young, my home town, on the way. I was privileged to be the first politician to join Des on a very small part of what was a week-long venture. From Young we travelled towards Yass on Murringo Road, which is a typical NSW regional arterial highway. Des is typical of the more than 180,000 professional truck drivers who take to the roads of Aus-tralia. I am advised that on average Australia’s truck fleet travels about 12½ billion kilometres per year on the freeways, highways and roads and carries in the order of 1½ billion tonnes of freight. It is interesting to note that it is expected that the road freight task will be at twice its present level by 2020. You certainly get a different perspective of road travel when you are sitting in the cab of a big rig. You see things in a completely different light. The roads seem narrower and you can see the rough edges. It is a bit like it is with those on the other side—sitting here makes it a bit easier to see their rough edges. I want to pay tribute to the professionalism and the safety consciousness demonstrated by truckies, and, while we do hear some negative stories, in the main their professionalism really should be noted. Their safety record is on the improve, which is great to see. The road toll for all vehicles, including heavy vehicles, has been in decline over the last decade, despite the significant growth in numbers of vehicles and enhancements in vehicle performance technology. Truck crashes and fatalities peaked during the late 1980s, then dropped significantly in the early 1990s. Even though the number of trucks on the roads has increased, as have the kilometres travelled and the tonne per kilometre rate, the amount of road trauma has remained relatively stable since then. In 2002, sadly, there were 200 deaths from 171 fatal crashes involving articulated trucks. In 2004, fatalities were down 26½ per cent from that 2002 figure, with 135 fatal crashes, which re-sulted in 147 deaths. We know it is still too many, but more can be done to improve safety, and it is being done. Just last week the inaugural meeting of the Australian Trucking Association’s safety consultative group was held in Canberra. Senior officials from a range of national and state enforcement and regulatory agencies as well as senior industry representatives discussed the need to tackle the heavy vehicle safety agenda, both on and off road, more vigorously than is the case at present. No longer can the trucking industry rely on enforcement by officialdom. I understand the industry is looking to change its culture to drive improvements not just on road but off road too, in the areas of effective risk management, fatigue management, more effective enforcement and closer scru-tiny of the more cost-effective ways to supply safer roads. I congratulate the trucking industry for taking this step. The Howard-Vaile government is taking significant steps to improve road infrastructure. A key part of this is AusLink, the government’s plan for improving Australia’s transport infrastructure. AusLink will help to create a better, safer heavy vehicle operating environment. The government has committed around $12½ billion for land transport infrastructure, which includes around $8 billion to be spent on the national network and over $1½ billion to be spent on Roads to Recovery, which has been a tremendous program and has been very well received by our local, rural and re-gional communities. So this government certainly has a plan to improve road infrastructure, which will go a long way towards helping the trucking industry. Those opposite appear to have nothing. Certainly I have not seen anything—‘aon rud’: nothing. Unlike the Australian trucking industry, the Australian Labor Party seem to be on the road to nowhere. I would like to pay tribute to Des Bailey and the many like him. While we are often presented with the negative side of the trucking industry, Des Bailey is just one example of the many terrific truckies who are travelling Australia’s roads. I am sure that those on the other side would join with me in commending those truckies that are out there on the road, doing the right thing and trying to take the industry forward. Senator Conroy —I’ve actually met more than one. Senator NASH —I note that those on the other side are indeed agreeing with me. I would like to commend to the Senate the Australian trucking industry and particularly its peak body, the Aus-tralian Trucking Association, whose commitment to creating better conditions and workplace prac-tices for all truckies will lead to better, safer road travelling for all Australians. The PRESIDENT —Leave is granted for the tabling of the documents that Senator Siewert wishes to table.

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