SHEPPARTON hosted the National Road Transport Association (NatRoad) annual national conference, NatRoad Connect 25, in Shepparton, Victoria, on Friday, September 12.
With opening addresses from NatRoad Chair Paul Fellows and Senator Bridget McKenzie, Shadow Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development, the day of conference sessions covered legal, tax, insurance, regulatory and HR issues. Speakers included industry experts from the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator, the ATO and NatRoad’s in-house legal and HR advisors.
At the conference, Senator McKenzie had strong words about the Commonwealth Government’s plans to increase the Heavy Vehicle Road User charge truck and bus drivers’ pay on diesel use.
“Speaking at the NAT Roads Conference, where trucking industry bodies have gathered from around the country to actually celebrate the industry, learn from each other, but also understand and appreciate a lot of the challenges and opportunities that the industry will be facing over coming years,” said Senator McKenzie.
“We know that Catherine King [Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government] and Chris Bowen [Minister for Climate Change and Energy] will be releasing the transport sector plans on decarbonisation very, very shortly, given the freight industry is 44 per cent of the overall transport emissions.
“That is going to come as a heavy blow to an industry that is already under pressure with margins and cost increases. The Labor Party needs to come clean about how much it will cost our trucking industry to actually fulfil Labor’s aggressive emissions targets.”
Heavy vehicle charges increased by 2.75 per cent in 2022-23, but the National Transport Commission has released options for the next three years that include 10 per cent annual rises, which would amount to a $2.6B tax on trucks.
