LRTAWA – What are the positives of 2022?

LRTAWA by David Fyfe, President, Livestock and Rural Transport Association of Western Australia (Inc)

As 2022 draws to a close and we turn our minds to counting our blessings, I thought we would have a look back at the year that was and highlight the positives.

After 697 days, Western Australia lifted its COVID-19 border restrictions becoming the last Australian state to do so. The lifting of restrictions heralded a return to normal movement between WA and the rest of Australia for truck drivers. Transporters carried a heavy burden of compliance throughout this period and deserve recognition and congratulations for the way in which they rose to the challenge, submitted to a tight testing regime and simply got on with the job. A job that was made even harder by service stations being inaccessible and quarantine periods requiring more time away from family than usual. It is worth noting that with tens of thousands of border crossings each there were very few confirmed cases of COVID-19 positive truck drivers putting the community at risk.

A welcome by-product of this period was the community focus on the service

Atotal of 41 contractors in the State's Wheatbelt region have transitioned to full time employment with Main Roads.

The workers are the first to transition to Main Roads, as part of a major initiative announced by the State Government in April to return road maintenance jobs in-house.

The move will create an estimated 660 permanent jobs within Main Roads, including 490 in regional WA.

The decision to move road maintenance jobs in-house came after detailed analysis undertaken by Ernst and Young highlighted numerous benefits, including: • increased job opportunities and

economic growth in the regions • enhanced Aboriginal employment and engagement outcomes • improved education uptake • increased capacity and capability of

Main Roads

Road maintenance contracts have been outsourced by Main Roads since 2000. Under the current arrangement, there are five network maintenance contractors engaged by Main Roads, delivering more than $400 million of maintenance and improvement works throughout the State each year.

Once fully implemented across the State, the initiative will result in savings of more than $25 million a year, producing