UNCLASSIFIED

PRIME MINISTER
THE HON. MALCOLM TURNBULL MP
MINISTER FOR EMPLOYMENT
SENATOR THE HON. MICHAELIA CASH
MINISTER FOR INFRASTRUCTURE AND TRANSPORT
THE HON. DARREN CHESTER MP
JOINT MEDIA RELEASE
10 April 2016
A Re-elected Coalition Government will Abolish the Road Safety
Remuneration System
The Coalition will abolish the Road Safety Remuneration Tribunal (RSRT) if
it is returned to Government at the next election.
The Turnbull Government is taking action to support truck owner-drivers
across Australia who are unfairly disadvantaged by the destructive Road
Safety Remuneration System Payment Order, which came into effect on 7
April 2016.
Bill Shorten set up the Road Safety Remuneration System (RSRS) solely to
advantage the Transport Workers Union.
The union claims that if you pay someone more money then they will drive
more safely. This is not based on evidence or common sense.
The RSR System is predicated on this flawed claim and it puts tens of
thousands of owner-drivers across Australia at risk of being driven out of
business.
There is no evidence that the Road Safety Remuneration System has
achieved any safety outcomes in its four years of operation nor that it will
achieve any such outcomes going forward.
The Government has acted on the evidence found in two reviews of the
RSR System, which found that the rationale for the system is flawed.
We are taking action to fix the mess that Labor created while also
implementing additional measures to improve safety outcomes for all road
users.
The National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR) is the body that can actually
deliver real and tangible road safety outcomes in the trucking industry.

Today the Government is also announcing that funds from the RSRS will be
redirected to the NHVR.
The Government will be consulting with States and Territories to determine
how this funding can be used to strengthen safety measures and deliver
real results.
The NHVR administers the Heavy Vehicle National Law, and is responsible
for regulating a range of safety-related measures including driver fatigue,
speeding, loading requirements and for ensuring that supply chains share
equal responsibility for ensuring standards are complied with.
This regulation, unlike the RSRS, has broad support from the industry.
The Bill the Government will be introducing to parliament when it resumes
on 18 April, if passed, will suspend the operation of the Order and provide
the trucking industry with certainty, until such time as we take legislation
to a new parliament to abolish the RSRS.
There has been a gradual decline in road deaths involving heavy vehicles,
from 264 in 2008 to 192 in 2015.
We are committed to continuing in this positive direction.
To do this we must focus on safety measures that are backed up by solid
evidence and which deliver tangible results for all road users.
Labor's approach to road safety is to jeopardise the livelihoods of mum
and dad truck drivers who want to get on with running their businesses.