Livestock and rural transporters have been given a voice on a new committee that will guide the development of Australia's first National Heavy Vehicle Regulator.
Australian Livestock and Rural Transporters Association executive director Philip Halton has been named as one of three industry representatives that will sit on the new body's implementation board.
Under reforms recently announced by the Federal Government, Australia will soon replace 23 state based regulators with single national regulators for maritime, rail and heavy vehicles.
The changes will deliver efficiency gains worth $30 billion over 20 years, according to Federal transport minister Anthony Albanese.
Joining Mr Halton on the implementation board will be fellow industry representatives David Simon from the Australian Trucking Association and Andrew Ethell from the Australian Logistics Council. The board will also contain representatives from each state and territory Government.
Mr Halton said the ALRTA’s inclusion on such a high level board provided an excellent opportunity to ensure the new national regulator could deliver for rural and regional Australia.
“Minister Albanese took a very strong personal interest in making sure the ALRTA was appointed to this new Implementation Board,” Mr Halton said.
“We’ve explained to him personally just how much the bush economy, and all rural communities, are dependent on road transport and need their road freight service to be highly efficient.
“As well as taking direct control of purely ‘regulatory’ matters, the ALRTA will be proposing that the National Regulator take up a role in advising governments on opportunities to improve road freight efficiency. That’s likely to help give higher priority to some road investments in rural areas.”
Mr Albanese said the inclusion of the industry representatives from the road freight sector would add depth to the key decisions around the shape of the national heavy vehicle regulator.
Having a national regulator meant that long haul freight operators would no longer need to meet different laws and rules for log books, driving hours and maximum loads as they crossed state borders.
"These reforms will see an end to 110 years of duplication and confusion and provide long term benefits for business, workers and the economy," Mr Albanese said.
HAVE YOUR SAY