THE Nationals will move to delay legislation they say will put “mum and dad” truck operators out of business, but they will have to wait until parliament sits on April 18, leaving self-employed truck drivers in limbo and potentially breaking the law.
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On Wednesday night, the Federal Court dismissed an application to stop the introduction of minimum pay rates for self-employed truck drivers.
Deputy Prime Minister and Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce said the change would “hurt a lot of people”.
“To give you a classic example, you might pick up 60 head of cattle in Tamworth and drive them down to Adelaide for $4000 – to pay for fuel on the way back, you pick up a couple of bulls and if you get a few hundred bucks for that, it will help you pay for fuel to get the truck back home,” the New England MP said.
“This piece of legislation says you can’t do that; you have to charge exactly the same amount as you did on the trip down.
“Owner-drivers just won’t be able to pick up a load on the way home, and if they can’t pick up a load, they miss out on a heap of money.”
The minimum pay rates were set by the Road Safety Remuneration Tribunal (RSRT), which was established by the previous government to improve road safety.
Nationals Senator John Williams, a vocal critic of the law, said he was “disgusted” with the Federal Court’s decision.
“There is real concern that this terrible law will damage so many people in small businesses,” Senator Williams said.
“There are people hauling loads right now that are breaching the law. Under the law, they face a $54,000 fine for each breach – it’s going to force people to go bankrupt.
“The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission can’t do anything because the order came through a parliament established body [RSRT], which in my opinion should be scrapped, pulled apart and closed down.”
The Nationals will move to delay the legislation until January 2017, but Senator Williams said the bill would need the support of the Senate crossbenchers.
Maggie Welsh, owner of Welsh Freight Services in Kootingal, said the “frustrating” law would affect the small business she runs with her husband.
“We’ve got jobs to do, so we are going to do them – but there are already people sitting down because they’ve been told they have no work,” Mrs Welsh said.
She said introducing minimal wages for owner-operators wouldn’t improve road safety.
“The whole safety issue isn’t anything to do with money, it’s to do with how people conduct themselves,” Ms Welsh said.
“Our truck and equipment is serviced by registered services, it’s not backyard jobs like most people think.” Ms Welsh said the changes wouldn’t just affect owner-operator drivers, it would impact all the local services they used, such as tire dealerships, petrol stations and mechanics.
“It’s a flow-on effect: if we lose our business, they lose our business.”
Meanwhile, the Australian Trucking Association will lead a convoy to Canberra later this month, to protest against the introduction of the Contractor Driver Minimum Payments Road Safety Remuneration Order, and in support of federal Employment Minister Michaelia Cash’s call for industry to show its support for legislation delaying the order.
The convoy will take place on April 18, the same day the legislation is due to be introduced into parliament.
