On the 10th April, the Turnbull government announced that it intends to abolish the Road Safety Remuneration Tribunal. We want to know, is this just a political stunt for the upcoming election or an effort to improve road safety?
For those that don’t know, the Road Safety Remuneration Tribunal (RSRT) was introduced by the former Labor Government in 2012. It is an independent national tribunal designed to make our roads safer. Their decisions affect transport drivers, employers of transport drivers, and anyone else involved with transport drivers in the supply chain. Their authority allows them to make road safety remuneration orders, assist in negotiations of transport agreements, deal with transport disputes between drivers, suppliers, and employers, and conduct research into pay and safety issues in the road transport industry.
Turnbull’s main arguments for the abolition is that it is killing the transport industry. It is not an efficient way of improving safety in the transport industry. Rather, it is keeping drivers off the road because the companies can’t pay them. In the four years of its existence, the Turnbull Government believe that it has delivered no tangible road safety outcomes. Paying drivers more money, does not make them safer drivers. Instead, the Turnbull Government proposes that the current funding be redirected to the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR), a group he believes can actually deliver “tangible road safety outcomes”.
Watch Turnbull’s announcement now.
The Transport Workers Union (TWU) are fiercely against this policy stating that it’s just a political stunt that will secure votes from the big oil companies, manufacturers, and ports.
The TWU believe that by taking away the only independent tribunal in the industry, the system is left open to be manipulated by the big players. They fear that accountability of road safety issues will be abolished with the Road Safety Remuneration Tribunal if the Turnbull Government’s proposed plan passes in the senate. Without accountability, how can we possibly improve road safety?
Watch the TWU response here and below.
We want to know what you think! Is it a political stunt by the TWU and Turnbull Government, or are the Turnbull Government’s actions trying to improve road safety?
Whether this is a political issue or not, the Driving School is committed to safety on our roads and is the leading trainer for individuals and large organisations who work in the transport industry. Of course we would like to see more jobs and believe that if training is carried out correctly by large corporations then the RSRT becomes redundant, negating the need for it to be a political issue.