ATN #418

NEWS Inside the Industry Barnaby Joyce
being sworn in
his ongoing support of the NHVR," Gay said.
NHVR WELCOMES RETURN OF JOYCE
The National Heavy Vehicle Regulator
(NHVR) recently welcomed the appointment
of Barnaby Joyce as federal infrastructure
and transport minister and thanked
outgoing minister Michael McCormack.
NHVR chair Duncan Gay said he looks
forward to working with Joyce to continue
to grow safety, productivity and efficiency
across the heavy vehicle industry.
"On behalf of NHVR staff, chief executive
and the board, I congratulate Barnaby and
welcome him to the role," Gay said.
"Barnaby has always been a supporter
of delivering improved transport and
infrastructure outcomes."
Gay also thanked McCormack for
his support.
"Michael was a strong advocate for
regional communities and I thank him for
"I have no doubt that he will continue to
play a role in championing the importance
of heavy vehicle safety well into the future."
Also thanking McCormack was the
Civil Contractors Federation National
(CCF National).
"Michael McCormack made a significant
contribution to the Infrastructure Transport
and Regional Development portfolio as
evidenced by the federal government’s
infrastructure investment program and
CCF National congratulates him on his
achievements since he came to the position
in early 2018," CCF CEO Chris Melham said.
"Mr McCormack’s record of investing
in civil infrastructure projects to generate
jobs and boost business confidence is
widely acknowledged across the industry
and we thank him for his strong contribution
to the sector.
"He leaves the infrastructure portfolio
with a record level of infrastructure funding
commitments from the federal government
– $110 billion as compared to $75 billion
in 2016 financial year for the federal
government’s 10 year rolling infrastructure
investment program.
"He demonstrated a deep commitment
to improving infrastructure throughout
rural and regional Australia and in so doing
provided the foundations for economic
growth in those regions.
"His stewardship of the Inland Rail
project and the roll out of countless shovel
ready projects throughout the country
reflects his strong focus on investing in
rural and regional Australia to grow the
Australian economy.
"Civil Contractors Federation looks
forward to continuing this strong working
relationship with Mr Barnaby Joyce MP,
deputy prime minister, in his capacity
as the newly appointed federal minister
for infrastructure transport and regional
development, who we congratulate on
his appointment."
Joyce’s previous tenure as transport
minister over 14 months saw resistance
to the idea of incentives to accelerate the
reduction of the nation’s truck fleet average
age and a lack of alternative policy.
He was also an avid Inland Rail and
Murray Basin rail supporter.
NTC issues impact statement on heavy vehicle charge changes
The National Transport Commission (NTC)
has issued a consultation regulation impact
statement (C-RIS) seeking feedback on a range
of options for setting heavy vehicle charges that
would apply from 2022–23 onwards.
"This consultation regulation impact
statement (C-RIS) seeks feedback on options for
setting future heavy vehicle charges to recover
the cost of road construction and maintenance
attributed to 27 classes of heavy vehicles that
form the basis of the heavy vehicle charges
determination," the executive summary noted.
"The National Transport Commission (NTC)
was directed by transport ministers in November
2019 to conduct a new heavy vehicle charges
determination that would form the basis for setting
heavy vehicle charges to apply from 2022–23."
Heavy vehicle charges consist of a yearly
registration charge and a road user charge (RUC)
on diesel fuel.
"These charges are set under a charging
framework known as ‘pay as you go’ (PAYGO),"
NTC said.
"The overarching regulatory problem for this
determination is to recommend an efficient
and equitable set of heavy vehicle charges that
adequately recovers the cost of road construction
and maintenance from heavy vehicles in Australia.
"This must occur while complying with
a range of pricing principles . . . ‘National
heavy vehicle road use prices should promote
optimal use of infrastructure, vehicles and
transport modes’."
After the end of the consultation period,
set for August 2021, the NTC is to analyse
the information proposed and prepare
recommendations for a decision RIS.
The decision RIS will make
recommendations to transport ministers at
the Infrastructure and Transport Ministers’
Meeting (ITMM) in November 2021, with
charges to apply from 2022–23.
24 ATN July 2021 FULLYLOADED.COM.AU