THE Livestock and Rural Transport Association of WA (LRTA), president Grant Robins has praised the Government for listening to the rural transport industry's concerns about the impact the proposed compliance and enforcement legislation would have on their ability to be efficient and productive.
He said although there is still a way to go, the recent public consultation process which allowed submissions on selected areas of the proposal, was 100 per cent more consultation than they have had previously.
"We would be disappointed if amendments were not made to address the unique circumstances of transporting rural commodities but we are encouraged by signs the Government is genuinely listening to our concerns and trying to do something about them," Mr Robins said.
"The legislation is an example of how the desire for uniform laws across Australia can have negative consequences in a State like WA that has a reputation for getting the job done productively, efficiently and safely covering a huge network of roads that go beyond the prominent east-west routes."
Mr Robins said his industry is worried about the prospect of WA's fatigue laws being affected by the national uniformity juggernaut.
"Whether it is compliance and enforcement, national heavy vehicle regulation or national health and safety laws there is a constant risk WA's fatigue laws will be tampered with" he said.
"In WA we have fatigue regulation that works.
"It works because it is practical and we believe it must be protected."
Mr Robins called on the Government to ensure Worksafe allocated sufficient resources to enforcing fatigue regulations not only to improve compliance and safety which was always a priority, but also to provide data and evidence of the effectiveness of WA's regime.
Last month the LRTA met with both the Liberal and National Parties to discuss the Chain of Responsibility Bill which the Government hopes to join with the 2007 Traffic Act Bill.
However, the new bill, which would have unrealistic mass tolerance on trucks, would greatly affect the viability of the transport industry and its customers.
John Mitchell, Mitchell's Livestock Transport, said the transport industry had previously been left in the dark during the construction phase of the bill
"We had to go looking for the information," Mr Mitchell said.
Mr Mitchell said because it was only by fluke that the Bill wasn't passed by the Carpenter government, it has given them time to look into more of the details.
"We have found more unreasonable regulations we believe would adversely affect both the transport industry and WA's already stressed agricultural economy," he said.
"The Government up until now hasn't fully understood how bad the situation actually is.
"And the advice from the beaurecrats is that it's not that bad."
Mr Mitchell said the transport industry has just started to be recognised as credible on this issue.
"I am frightened that if the legislation is passed without the correct and fair scrutiny the problems created will take 10 years to fix," he said.
"No one can fully estimate the personal cost and the cost to the community of this being pushed through.
"Our system that has been proposed needs to be objectively measured against the national philosophies and balanced against what will be best for the WA community, the rural industries and the transport industry."
"The best way to do this is for all transporters and agencies to sit down and see for once and for all what is in the detail via a clear and fair process - if there is disagreement on a particular point it may be best leave it aside for more thorough investigation.
"If it could be properly and objectively looked at against the principals that all parties are trying to achieve and strive for, it would be hard for anyone to dispute fact.
"No one has looked at it in any detail though."
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