2 April 2016 The Road Safety Remuneration Tribunal (the Tribunal) decided to proceed with forcing its Contractor Driver Minimum Payments Road Safety Remuneration Order 2016.
It intended to introduce the anti-competitive new charge rates on contractor drivers on Monday, 4 April.
Late last night, an urgent application by NatRoad with the support of the Australian Trucking Association was made to the Federal Court in Brisbane. The court granted a stay.
“We are relieved a stay has been granted by the Federal Court at the 11th hour last night, but a full removal is still required”, said Mr Katter
“This new order by the Tribunal renders Australia’s owner-operator trucking companies anti-competitive and hands over the market to the international corporates,” said Mr Katter.
The order imposes a compulsory rate charge via the regulatory rate calculator solely on the small to medium operators who contract to the big corporates.
The mostly international, corporate trucking companies, with a fleet of over five trucks and employee drivers are not subject to the regulatory rate calculator.
There are tens of thousands of trucking operators in Australia who meet the “contractor” definition of the Tribunal.
Joe Kelly in The Weekend Australian reported today that if the changes are introduced, it could cost the trucking industry $2.3 billion.
Mr Katter is adamant:
“We must repeal the Tribunal’s order. It will reduce the nation’s owner-operators non-competitive.”
“We cannot afford the risk of pricing out owner-operators from an entire industry! These are Australian owned businesses. This will be devastating on Australia’s trucking industry.”