ALRTA News – 25 August 2023


ALRTA NEW EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FIRST WEEK

Thank you to all for the very warm welcome I’ve received this week. I’ve had a relatively soft landing after attending the combined national conference hosted by LRTAWA in Busselton and LRTAV conference in Ballarat. It was great to meet so many members, sponsors and partners before officially getting my feet under the desk.

On Monday, I represented ALRTA at the Senate Inquiry into Cost of Living, alongside Warren Clarke from NatRoads and Steve Shearer, SARTA. There was a lot of ground to cover in terms of cost of living pressures facing rural transport, with the Senators asking many questions and ultimately running overtime.

The rest of my first week I’ve focused on getting across the organisational priorities and gaining an understanding of operational matters. As much as I intend to hit the ground running, I ask for your patience over the next few weeks as I get up to speed. Next week, we welcome Sue Davis back from leave after she has spent several weeks in Japan on holiday.

In the coming weeks, I have meetings lined up with partners and other industry stakeholders including Repco, NHVR, NTi, Federal Depart of Infrastructure and Transport and PowerTorque, and have put some requests out to Ministers’ offices for meetings. I will be in Brisbane next week for the ABSF Consultative Committee and will continue to participate in weekly NTC forums on HVNL reform.

There’s quite a bit happening in the policy and advocacy space over the coming weeks and months, with upcoming submissions to:

NSW Legislative Council Inquiry into Pressures on Heavy Vehicle Drivers and the Impact in NSW
National Freight and Supply Chain Review led by the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts
Consultation on National Auditing Standards as part of the HVNL Review led by NTC, this will be followed by a formal C-RIS
Plus, ALRTA will be working with the ATA in responding to the proposed ‘Employee-Like Conditions’ reforms.

It’s a very busy time for the sector and there is no doubt the agenda set by the Executive and Council of ALRTA, is an ambitious one, but I’m looking forward to diving head first and working with members and partners to tackle the challenges ahead.

ALRTA Executive Director Rachel Smith

FIRST AUSTRALIAN HYDROGEN REFUELLER SERVICE STATION OPENS IN BRISBANE

BOC is combining with the likes of bp and the Queensland government on the newly opened hydrogen refuelling project.

Gas and engineering company BOC, part of Linde, has announced alongside bp Australia that it has officially opened Australia’s first hydrogen refuelling station at a service station.

The station at the bp Port of Brisbane Truckstop in Lytton is live now for heavy vehicle operators.

BOC will partner with bp and the Queensland government for the station project

Read more in Fully Loaded here.


DECARBONISING ROAD TRANSPORT

At Trucking Australia 23, the Minister responsible for the trucking industry, Catherine King, Federal Minister of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government talked about the challenge involved in decarbonising road transport as being one of the things that the trucking industry is up for. She also commended the take-up of the latest safety technology, as being ‘fantastic to see’.

“Climate change is a challenge that we are grappling with, across the economy,” said King. “Taken together, transport itself represents 19 per cent of Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions, and four per cent of those come from the heavy road sector. Given the difficulties involved in environmental issues in this sector, transport is predicted to become our largest source of emissions by 2030.

“With our commitment to net zero emissions, this sector is meant to drive these down, whether it be through hydrogen highways and commitment to funding chargers for electric trucks or through alternative fuels. I know this industry is ready and willing to do its part…

Read more at PowerTorque here.


REPORTING RURAL CRIME TO ADDRESS RURAL CRIME

THE University of New England’s (UNE) Centre for Rural Criminology is supporting a new initiative to improve the effectiveness of crime prevention in rural areas of NSW.

Announced at AgQuip in Gunnedah by Crime Stoppers, the NSW Police Force, and UNE Deputy Vice-Chancellor – Research, Professor Chris Armstrong, the initiative seeks to improve reporting of rural crime – a necessary step to guide better policing and prevention strategies.

“We can’t build community resilience and infrastructure if we are in the dark about farm crime,” says CEO of NSW Crime Stoppers, Mr Peter Price AM. “The more information reported, the better equipped the Police are to act to prevent or solve a crime.”

The push to improve reporting of rural crime is one of the ongoing responses to a 2021 survey by UNE’s Centre for Rural Criminology, which found that a shocking 81pc of NSW farmers have experienced crime on their properties. The response to that survey prompted the Centre to launch the Australian Farm Crime Survey, the first national survey of crime in more than twenty years.

Read more in Beef Central.


SAVE THE DATES

  • LRTAQ – 28-29 September 2023 – The Ville Resort, TOWNSVILLE – QLD
  • LBRCA – 23-24 February 2024 – WAGGA WAGGA NSW