Federal Member for Hume Angus Taylor has taken up the concerns of local transport operators who fear the looming Contractor Driver Minimum Payments Road Safety Remuneration Order 2016 (The Order) will be a regulatory nightmare.

Mr Taylor said many of those impacted by The Order would be small, family-run businesses.

“Let’s not muck around here. This was a mean spirited move by the former Labor Government striking a deal with the Transport Workers Union to put smaller local companies out of business so bigger unionised operators could benefit,” Mr Taylor said.

“The Turnbull Government has supported an application by industry to delay the commencement date of the order, to ensure drivers have reasonable time to understand the changes.

“On Tuesday, the Tribunal published a draft amended order, which adopts a new commencement date of January 1 2017. Interested parties have until next Monday March 21 to comment on the draft amended order and I strongly encourage smaller operators in Hume to make their case heard.

“If the Road Safety Remuneration Tribunal (RSRT) was to stick to the original commencement date of April 4, then I fear for the viability of thousands of smaller transport operators and rural carriers who were given scant opportunity to respond to these draconian requirements,” he said.

“The order covers approximately 62,000 of Australia’s 200,000 truck drivers, with several local operators telling me the changes will put them out of business.”

The changes involve mandatory minimum pay rates on a per-km and hourly basis for contractor drivers who work either in the supermarket or long distance road transport sectors.

“The calculator to determine the new minimum rates was only made available to hirers and drivers on March 3 - just one month prior to the order taking effect,” Mr Taylor said.

Mr Taylor said the Government will shortly be releasing a report following a review of the Road Safety Remuneration Act 2012 which includes an analysis of the remuneration order, the first since the Tribunal commenced operations in July 2012.

“Excessive red tape and duplication of regulation is no way to help small business. We need to ensure that any regulation actually has a positive impact on industry rather than placing unnecessary burden on Hume’s small businesses.”

Interested parties are encouraged to make a written submission on the revised commencement date to the Road Safety Remuneration Tribunal by midday, Monday March 21 2016.

Submissions can be made by email: inquiries@rsrt.gov.au, fax: (03) 9655 0401 or post: Road Safety Remuneration Tribunal, GPO Box 1994, MELBOURNE VIC 3001.