Over to you WESTERN ROADS FEDERATION by Cam Dumesny, CEO
WHY ROAD TRANSPORT IS LOSING
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here is a harsh reality and that is the road transport industry is facing tougher resistance to obtaining productivity, safety, and even necessary infrastructure investment gains. This problem is not just limited to Western Australia - it is a national problem. Fundamentally, the road transport industry needs to re-think how it strategically positions itself and the value it provides.
Examples of How We Are Losing • A pprenticeship Funding: The Federal Government in its pre-budget releases has announced $1.2 Billion for apprenticeships and traineeships, specifically mentioning manufacturing, construction, arts, and mining sectors as beneficiaries. Yet the road transport industry which is facing a chronic skills shortage (particularly in WA) is not mentioned. Why because road transport is not seen as a trade. 26
WATM • November 2020
• Productivity Restricted: Another example is Fremantle Port where the Government has a 20% on rail target. Ok, I will not argue against rail as I believe both road and rail are needed to make Fremantle port productive. But what I will argue is that despite road transport carrying 80% of the freight, it is prevented from introducing road productivity measures as that is seen as undermining rail. That policy principal is spread across multiple routes in WA. • Infrastructure Investment: The Arts lobby very successfully won the requirement that up to one percent of the construction budget for new public works (sic includes roads) over $2 million, to be spent on artwork. Yet, we as an industry can’t get any percentage mandated for rest areas. • Paying For Roads: There are federal agencies actively working on how the road transport industry pays more for roads. Other transport modes and
anti-road transport groups have been very successful in arguing that the road transport industry is basically subsidised and is not paying enough for roads both in terms of damage and another thing called externalities. “Moreover, the cost of road externalities (such as noise, air pollution, congestion, and accidents, etc) is in the order of seven times the cost of rail externalities for interstate nonbulk freight transport.” (source: Australian Parliamentary Library – Cost Recovery in Rail and Road Transport.)
We Need to Learn from the Rail Industry Lobby The rail industry has quite bluntly out thought, out positioned, out marketed and out lobbied the road transport industry right across Australia. Rail is now the darling of Governments, Academics, and even the Community. Public funds are flowing into rail infrastructure investments, cheered on by
