* ACT - Turnbull pushes for National Trucking Tribunal to be dumped if Coalition wins election
-- Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, says his government will abolish the Road Safety Remuneration Tribunal if the coalition is re-elected at the upcoming election... The tribunal was set up by the previous Labor government and is responsible for pay and safety in the trucking industry. It was recently responsible for setting new minimum pay rates for owner-operator truck drivers... Speaking on Sunday, Turnbull said the Coalition planned to scrap the body, saying its decisions were putting mum-and-dad operators out of business... The Transport Workers' Union argues trucking contractors need better pay to compete and stay safe on the roads... Turnbull said it was time the tribunal was dumped after a number of critical reports...
Canberra, ACT, Australia - The Huffington Post Australia, by Sam McKeith - 10 April 2016
* ACT - Malcolm Turnbull using truck drivers ‘as pawns’ in election strategy, say crossbenchers
-- Senators say prime minister’s plan to abolish road safety remuneration tribunal leaves owner-drivers in limbo... Malcolm Turnbull is using the livelihood of family-run trucking companies as a political football before the election, members of the Senate crossbench have warned... The government would introduce legislation to freeze pay in the interim, opening up another industrial relations battleground with the unions... But at least two key crossbenchers say the move puts owner-driver truck drivers, typically from small or family-owned businesses, in limbo... “The Turnbull government is just trying to buy votes and they are prepared to use mum and dad truckies as pawns in their own election campaign,” independent senator, Glenn Lazarus, wrote on his Facebook page. “Owner-drivers are being decimated now. This should not be an election issue. This is an issue which should be solved now - not in August - not after an election” ... Labor instigated the tribunal on the grounds that giving drivers minimum pay would reduce the need for them to work unsafe hours or cut corners in order to expedite deliveries... “The truth of the matter is that most drivers or many drivers in this industry are not even members of the union,” the opposition leader, Bill Shorten, said. “But all drivers are entitled to a safe system of work” ...
(Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP - Senators Jacqui Lambie, Glenn Lazarus and Nick Xenophon. Lazarus says he is ‘disgusted’ by the prospect of dragging out the abolition of the tribunal) -- Canberra, ACT, Australia - The Guardian, by Shalailah Medhora - 10 April 2016
* NT - Backs delay on truckers' minimum pay
-- The Northern Territory government says it's "common sense" for its federal counterpart's to delay the introduction of new minimum pay rates for truck owner-drivers.
Federal Employment Minister, Michaela Cash, has announced that the government will introduce legislation next week to prevent mandatory minimum rates for owner-drivers taking effect before January 1.
"Our priority is protecting owner-drivers in the trucking industry and as it stands, the order put forward by the National Road Safety Tribunal threatens these drivers and all who rely on an efficient and competitive road transport industry," NT Transport Minister, Peter Chandler, said on Monday.
Chief Minister Adam Giles said repealing that decision was "common sense".
"The tribunal's order would lead to price increases and would be likely to have an adverse effect on competition in the sector," he said.
NT Road Transport Association President Michael Swart said the order was "anti-competitive and will destroy small family businesses who make up the bulk of owner-drivers in the NT".
He said there was "no proven link between pay and safety" and that other laws already dealt with safety in the industry...
(Photo: Minimum pay rates for truck owner-drivers are anti-competitive, the NT government says) -- Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia - AAP/Yahoo News - April 11, 2016Labels: debates, minimum freight rates, rules and regulations, truckers' protests, trucking industry news Australia
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