Bob Baldwin (Paterson, Liberal Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Industry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Today I rise to bring to the attention of the House an issue critical not only in the Hunter Valley but indeed across Australia. The day of 10 February was to have been a day of streamlining for the heavy motor vehicle industry because that was the day when the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator was to come into effect—albeit way beyond the anticipated start-up, due to delays.

The National Heavy Vehicle Regulator was to be a single one-stop shop. People have lined up and put in applications for permits for the movement of oversize and other mass loads, but the permits have not been not forthcoming. I have been inundated with phone calls, particularly from constituents I represent, like Mark Goldspring and Hogans Heavy Haulage. We are a large epicentre of heavy-vehicle movements in the Hunter Valley because of where we are in the mining industry. This is what has happened: because of mismanagement and having to work through the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator, the former government has brought our nation to a standstill. To give you an idea: of the applications that had been put forward as of Monday, some 2,050 applications, 258 have been approved. I have an example from Four Mile Creek mine, where they want to move an excavator from Rix's Creek down to Ashtonfield—only a very short trip—but cannot get the permit through to get the truck down to service. This is holding up industry—and this is being replicated all around Australia. In one of the emails I received from Mark Goldspring, he said that he had applied for permits to move it on 13 February and to this date he has not had them back. He has had all the escort vehicles, police, crew, men and trucks sitting and waiting. He has lost in excess of $400,000—and he is but one.

Former transport minister Albanese was gloating about how well this would go and boasting that it would save around $1.5 billion to $2.4 billion a year. It has collapsed. I do not know what the regulator has done in the time frame that he has had to set this up, but obviously the communication through the states down through to local government—and the problem, in essence, is local government signing off on the permits—is bringing this nation to a standstill. As an interim we have gone back to the old system and the states are handling the permits. It needs to be fixed—and it needs to be fixed as soon as possible.