19 April 2024
Trucking Australia 2024
Keynote Address
MAY BUDGET MUST NOT CUT INFRASTRUCTURE FOR THE THIRD TIME
*CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY*
Hats off to each and every one of you, who’s made it here for a 9am start. It’s great to be back at Trucking Australia Conference.
David, thank you very much as Chair and also Mark (Parry), the incoming Chair of Trucking Australia. Leadership starts at the top and when you’ve got great leaders, you have a really great industry and this organization has been blessed over many years with the leadership of David and now I know, through Marks leadership that will continue.
It’s an incredible sacrifice for your family and your businesses to actually take on these roles and I think everybody in the room would join with me in thanking you for your service, particularly David, over this time, and I know we haven’t seen the last of you, so all the best for whatever the future holds.
I also wanted to say a huge thanks, since the last time I spoke to you all, to both Pacca and Volvo. It’s been absolutely fantastic to go through both of those factories and see our manufacturing here going so well in Australia and now all I can see is Kenworth and Mac, sorry, Volvo. But yes, that’s the place I was raised in Benalla. That’s pretty full on.
On behalf of the Coalition, I want to congratulate the industry over the last 12 months and also say well done to future leaders. I know you had a good night with Scottie Bucholz last night and I’m confident today you will present your ideas to the broader industry and show just what’s waiting for us and the industry as we power the future not just for the industry.
The trucking industry powers our nation and we want that to continue. The Coalition, the Liberal and the National Party strongly support the trucking and road transport industry always have. We always will.
I’ve been asked today to speak about our approach to the budget. As you know by the time I’m back here in Canberra in a few weeks’ time, we’ll be listening to Jim Chalmers and Anthony Albanese plan for our nation as they bring down their budget. It’s important for me as the coalition spokesman on all things transport and infrastructure to make sure that you’re fully aware of where we see the priorities for the upcoming budget when it comes to transport and infrastructure and investment.
I also just want to make one small announcement that having finally got my feet under the table of this fantastic portfolio and done a bit of homework myself. My next ambition in 2024 is to get my heavy rigid truck license. I’ve just got to find the lazy 1200 bucks that it is going to cost me so hopefully by the time I’m speaking to you next year, I will have been out with some of you on the road. You know showing you that I can actually make my way through the gears and get the job done.
It’s two years since the election of the Anthony Albanese government, and we are one year from the next federal election. That’s the reality, the Prime Minister and Treasurer Chalmers are currently putting the finishing touches on what may be the last federal budget before the election. It will be important one for our country and for the future of your industry. It will show clearly where the government’s priorities are whether they’re actually listening to Australian communities.
Over the first two years, Labor has cancelled, cut and delayed more than $25 billion from our infrastructure budget. That is the decisions made by Catherine King, Jim Chalmers and the Anthony Albanese over the last two years, it’s not me being political about it. They are actual figures in their previous budget cut, delayed and cancelled over $25 billion of infrastructure projects, funding.
Over two years the government has used the infrastructure budget to plug holes in their budget so that they can deliver services. So instead of getting spending under control, maybe not prioritizing certain initiatives over others they’ve chosen to cut money out of the infrastructure budget, and instead of roads, the government seems to have prioritised investments in other types of infrastructure projects.
So, the only big announcements this government’s made in the infrastructure portfolio are stadiums and the Suburban Rail Loop in Melbourne to the tune of $2.2 billion. Billions and billions of dollars in stadiums and the Suburban Rail link, whilst cutting $25 billion from critical infrastructure projects across the country. Unfortunately, the government has not replaced these cuts with new projects or plans to improve the national freight network.
The 10-year infrastructure investment pipeline of projects is shrinking before our very eyes. The government inherited from the Coalition, a $120 billion, 10 year pipeline of projects back in March 2022. This was prior to the inflation spike.
The pipeline is now only $109 billion over the next 10 years and $109 billion today can’t buy what it could have bought two years ago.
In MYEFO (Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook) it shows the true impact of Labor’s cuts to infrastructure. Labor’s artificially inflating the size of the pipeline by keeping on the books almost $14 billion of projects that have already been completed. But much more telling is what’s happening with the pipeline of projects that are considered in planning.
When we left office, more than $63 billion of projects in planning across the 10-year infrastructure pipeline has been cut to a figure of only $44.5 billion.
As new projects have commenced constructions as a result of the coalition’s planned investments in partnership with states and territories, new projects haven’t been added. So over the 10 years, there is going to be a cliff of funding to critical road projects that will enhance our national freight network. At the same time, the government’s been cutting its funding for infrastructure projects. It’s been jacking up the truckies tax that you all pay.
A tax, which is intended to pay for road upgrades and maintenance that Labor has actually been walking away from. Now one might suggest the cuts to infrastructure could be responsible if fewer people were actually driving on our roads, If there were less trucks on our roads, less vehicles on our roads, if the national freight task was shrinking, but as you all know, it’s growing. The task is getting heavier, not lighter.
The case for investment in productivity enhancing infrastructure is growing, not shrinking. And this is what I want to see from Jim Chalmers and Catherine King in the budget in May. Is a recognition that we need more investment, not less.
I really want to say thank you to the deep engagement that I’ve been able to have at both peak body level, but also with local businesses as I’ve moved around the country and I was struck by stories of maintenance bills going through the roof as a result of our shocking road degradation and it doesn’t matter which state you go to. One company that I was speaking with in regional Victoria, I think they had a fleet of 35 trucks running around the southwest, said their maintenance bill had gone into the hundreds of 1000s of dollars within a 12 month period. With shockers having to be turned over at an incredible rate as a result specifically of road degradation.
There’s no where they can send the bill to, they can’t ring up Jim Chalmers or Catherine King and say listen, you’re failure to invest in road infrastructure and maintenance has meant that my business is now having to find hundreds of 1000s of dollars more than it used to. No where you can send that invoice. You have to keep absorbing it.
We want your businesses to be safer, yes, but to be more profitable and more sustainable because that’s what exactly what you guys and girls need to be doing.
The Labor Party has made a big move towards a big Australia pouring 1.5 million additional people into our country over the next four years into our congested suburbs that your drivers driving into our major capital cities without investing in the road infrastructure, the housing infrastructure that is needed to facilitate that.
That all adds to the freight task because all of these additional people, yes, boost our economy to a certain extent, but are all purchasing things as well as moving around our congested states. The cuts to infrastructure may be helping Treasurer Jim Chalmers balance his budget, but they’re not in our country’s best interests. They’re not in the best interests of the economy. They’re not in the best interest of our communities and they’re not in the best interests of our trucking industry.
So, we’re going to be looking at next month’s budget to undo the damage that those $25 billion of cuts have done over Labor’s first two years. This is the opportunity for Catherine King, Anthony Albanese. He’s going to be the Infrastructure Prime Minister remember and Jim Chalmers to reinvest that money back into the infrastructure that your industry, our economy, and our communities need and deserve.
Labor also got rid of the Road To Strategic Importance Program which was focused on making our freight routes safer and more efficient. Now having been scrapped, the program should be replaced in the budget with a new initiative focused on addressing the safety and efficiency backlogs of our regional freight highways.
Labor made that decision, they’re in government they’re entitled to make that decision. This budget is the opportunity for them to set up another equivalent program that is focused on the efficiency and productivity of our freight network and it’s time for them to step up. A lot of platitudes from these guys and girls, a lot of platitudes about how much they back truckers. How much they back the trucking industry by trying to put taxpayers money where their mouth is, and that’s what we’ll be looking to.
Even when the Minister announces, the government is failing to get the money out the door, so they make the big announcement. But we can’t get the money out the door quick enough. For example, of the 72 bridges renewal projects announced by Labor since their first budget, only eight have commenced, of course none of them are going to get completed, we are not idiots. But to announce 72 to great fanfare and only have started eight is incredible in terms of its failure in project planning, and in desire and drive to get what we need done out there done.
Being in government is more than just making announcements.
You have to force departments to follow up with councils and state governments to actually get projects moving. You can’t just do the press release stand by the broken bridge, cut the ribbon make the announcement walk off.
Being a Minister means you have to drive the outcome, particularly when it includes local council, state governments, who are often hard to corral as Saul knows and as I spoke to him this morning, he’s still frustrated. Which shows he’s still passionate about getting an outcome as we all look forward to that.
The budget should also include measures to help deliver the long-promised reforms in heavy vehicle national law and can I commend the Australia Truck Association for their ongoing advocacy in this regard? You’ve been relentless with us.
When in government and now with the Labor government you need to be because these seemingly inconsequential changes will drive such massive productivity gains and efficiency for your drivers into your businesses and really free up so much time and effort that is currently being spent dealing with the differences between jurisdictions and the often petty, different regulations involved, that you just won’t know yourself if we can get that change done.
So, I think this budget provides another opportunity for Labor to really drive those reforms home. These reforms will go a long way to recognize the professionalism of our operators and promoting your industry as a viable and desirable career option. Governments have been spinning their wheels on the harmonization of the national heavy vehicle that was for years and it isn’t good enough.
I can understand the frustration of each and every person in this room on that particular task and I know tomorrow is a big day in the workforce piece, but I know there’s a long way to go.
We’ve talked about the importance of investing in infrastructure to make our roads safer workplaces for you, but it would be remiss not to mention the importance of ensuring our drivers are suitably skilled and competent to drive.
I know this is an issue of critical concern to transport operators, employers and drivers. It comes up in my discussions at a very local at the national level with industry representatives all the time. It’s an unfortunate fact that our national road toll is increasing despite firm commitments from governments that will work progressively to reduce the number of deaths on our roads.
The Federal Department reported there were a total of 109 deaths on our roads during March. This is a 4.2% higher than the five-year average for March and over the last 12 months, there was an 8.2% increase on road fatality. Sadly over 1200 people have lost their lives on Australian roads.
The safety of the heavy vehicle industry and other road users must be a top priority. There have been horrific accidents involving trucks which are stark reminders that we still have much to do to improve road safety.
On the morning of Christmas Eve 23 there was that double fatality accident when a truck collided with a freight train on the Barrier Highway in South Australia’s northeast. This was a stretch of road where rest areas and road safety improvements had been planned but delayed by State and Commonwealth governments.
And just two weeks ago, there was a terrible collision on the Eyre Highway, crossing the Nullarbor between a road train and a second truck, which tragically claimed three lives and I offer mine and the coalition’s deep sympathies to those families impacted and the friends and colleagues of those who lost their lives in those accidents.
The cause of these trucks tragic accidents remains to be settled by the investigating authorities but it is important that industry and government work together to make the industry safer for all to cut the delays to get the projects moving.
Something like this can happen again and this is why I want to raise the work we formally did on the development of the National Heavy Vehicle Driver Competency Framework.
This is an important piece of work to achieve long overdue national consistency and driver licensing, competency testing and recognition of qualifications of drivers from overseas.
Australia has a national freight industry with drivers crossing borders daily. That makes no sense in 2024 that we have different licensing schemes operating in different states and territories. It is nothing more than ego over practicality, that that actually exists and is a resident of a border community in Wodonga.
If COVID taught us nothing. It’s that sometimes these borders are arbitrary and Premiers and Ministers can use them for completely arbitrary barriers and the licensing stuff is absolutely fairly and squarely within that bailiwick.
There’s a significant variation between states and the length of training required for drivers and in assessment programs. I know that everyone in this room wants to be confident that your drivers have not only successfully completed the theory of driving on Australian roads, but are also competent to drive the trucks that they’re behind the wheel off. That means drivers actually been able to reverse, to know how to tow, to turn in traffic with a high level of competency before then entrusted with your very, very expensive riggs and before they put on our very very busy road networks.
The framework for Nationally Competent Driver System was put out for consultation back in September 2002 by AustRoads some 18 months ago and it’s my understanding the industry supports a nationally standardized approach to licensing and driver competency.
Certainly this is an issue that’s raised consistently with me, whether it’s the rural livestock drivers, whether it’s local contractors, small medium operators, or indeed the large trucking organizations. Not only will this improve the safety of our valued trucking industry, it will also improve the safety of all Australians.
It’s time the Federal Minister Catherine King got out of her office, stopped cutting and delaying projects and took a leadership role and called all the players that are making these decisions to the table and sat them down and nut this out. We’re not going to leave until we’ve nutted this out.
That is actually what leadership is about and if Catherine King cared about a nationally consistent training regime, that’s exactly what she’d do. Now she doesn’t have all the levers, but she is the Federal Minister and can actually call these people to the table. Need to actually sit down and agree to implementing a National Driver Competency Framework.
In the coalition we’re going to do whatever we can from opposition to help your industry prosper, to be more sustainable as we head toward 2050 and I really appreciate all of the industry’s discussions with me as I seek to develop the coalition’s low emissions transport policy before the next federal election.
So, if you’ve got a great idea out there, please make contact with me. I’d love to hear from you because I want to have a really credible path to 2050, not interested in pie in the sky ideas. I really want practical, credible plans that we can put in place as part of a future coalition government to drive a low emissions transport network that won’t kill industry profitability.
Once again, I’d like to thank the Australian Trucking Association, I hope you had an awesome conference. It’s always great to get together at these things to meet with old friends, to hear about new and innovative ideas that are happening across your industry and hopefully hear from government and opposition about the competing political framework that we’re operating in.
I hope Jim Chalmers and Catherine King deliver a budget in May that delivers for you and your industry because by delivering for you and your industry we will be proudly powering the future of our whole country, now.
Thank you very much.