1
00:00:00,640 --> 00:00:02,400
Speaker 1: And I think that what we're actually going to see

2
00:00:02,520 --> 00:00:04,520
Speaker 1: is that this is a big impulse for a lot

3
00:00:04,519 --> 00:00:07,320
Speaker 1: of industries and it's going to hit our hip pocket

4
00:00:07,440 --> 00:00:09,640
Speaker 1: in more ways than what we would have realized or

5
00:00:09,680 --> 00:00:13,440
Speaker 1: actually thought about, you know, think about freight being transported

6
00:00:13,520 --> 00:00:16,360
Speaker 1: around the nation, think about wanting to catch a flight

7
00:00:17,000 --> 00:00:19,840
Speaker 1: to somewhere else, and these different ways that we are

8
00:00:19,880 --> 00:00:23,720
Speaker 1: potentially going to see costs go up and impacts for

9
00:00:23,800 --> 00:00:26,440
Speaker 1: so many different industries. Now joining me on the line

10
00:00:26,520 --> 00:00:29,840
Speaker 1: right now, we have got Louise Blato, who is the

11
00:00:29,880 --> 00:00:34,320
Speaker 1: executive officer of the NTI Road Transport Association. Good morning

12
00:00:34,360 --> 00:00:35,040
Speaker 1: to you, Louise.

13
00:00:36,159 --> 00:00:37,919
Speaker 2: Good morning Katie, Louise.

14
00:00:37,960 --> 00:00:41,120
Speaker 1: We talk about these petrol prices going up and I

15
00:00:41,159 --> 00:00:43,720
Speaker 1: would imagine that the people who are really feeling the

16
00:00:43,760 --> 00:00:47,400
Speaker 1: impact of that more than most is our truckies and

17
00:00:47,440 --> 00:00:49,400
Speaker 1: those working in the transport industry.

18
00:00:50,920 --> 00:00:55,800
Speaker 2: Absolutely, Katie. And what we're concerned about and trying to

19
00:00:55,840 --> 00:01:00,560
Speaker 2: do some contingency planning, is what if the diel price

20
00:01:00,640 --> 00:01:03,840
Speaker 2: goes to three dollars a liter and what will that

21
00:01:03,960 --> 00:01:10,400
Speaker 2: look like for our freight movements around Australia. And that's

22
00:01:10,600 --> 00:01:16,200
Speaker 2: not unlikely, it could well happen in the near future,

23
00:01:16,680 --> 00:01:21,360
Speaker 2: hopefully that very high price wouldn't stay that way. But

24
00:01:22,240 --> 00:01:25,480
Speaker 2: for example, we've got a one of our national carriers

25
00:01:25,520 --> 00:01:30,119
Speaker 2: who has done a lot of freight based in the territory.

26
00:01:30,720 --> 00:01:35,839
Speaker 2: Their fuel bill is a million dollars a months right now,

27
00:01:36,400 --> 00:01:39,920
Speaker 2: and if the fuel price goes up, just for example,

28
00:01:39,959 --> 00:01:45,399
Speaker 2: to three dollars a liter, that would be another five

29
00:01:45,480 --> 00:01:49,840
Speaker 2: hundred thousand dollars per or months onto their fuel bill,

30
00:01:49,960 --> 00:01:55,320
Speaker 2: which they couldn't survive if that wasn't passed on to customers.

31
00:01:55,400 --> 00:01:59,280
Speaker 2: What we're yeah, what we're looking at then is decisions

32
00:01:59,360 --> 00:02:04,680
Speaker 2: being made around what people do, what freight they require,

33
00:02:04,760 --> 00:02:08,640
Speaker 2: what becomes essential and what's not. But how long you

34
00:02:08,680 --> 00:02:10,880
Speaker 2: can do that. You might do that for a month

35
00:02:10,960 --> 00:02:12,920
Speaker 2: or two months or three months, but you can't do

36
00:02:13,000 --> 00:02:16,480
Speaker 2: that necessarily for twelve months without it affecting the whole

37
00:02:16,520 --> 00:02:17,280
Speaker 2: of the economy.

38
00:02:17,639 --> 00:02:21,799
Speaker 1: And Louise, this is a real live issue right now,

39
00:02:21,840 --> 00:02:24,399
Speaker 1: isn't it, Because we just don't know what price we're

40
00:02:24,440 --> 00:02:25,960
Speaker 1: going to end up paying at the bowser.

41
00:02:27,360 --> 00:02:30,600
Speaker 2: Well, we know for a fact it's going up, and

42
00:02:30,639 --> 00:02:35,920
Speaker 2: that the world crude price per barrel is going up.

43
00:02:36,200 --> 00:02:39,720
Speaker 2: You know, there's suggestions it could go above two hundred

44
00:02:39,760 --> 00:02:42,440
Speaker 2: dollars US a barrel. It's currently one hundred and twenty

45
00:02:42,480 --> 00:02:48,760
Speaker 2: dollars a barrel. So that's why we are considering how

46
00:02:49,040 --> 00:02:52,760
Speaker 2: the you know, the country, and what our freight task

47
00:02:52,919 --> 00:02:56,600
Speaker 2: will look like if fuel and diesel will go higher

48
00:02:56,600 --> 00:03:01,079
Speaker 2: than petrol, but if it goes above or goes towards

49
00:03:01,080 --> 00:03:05,880
Speaker 2: three dollars a liter, which is I said, unprecedented, But

50
00:03:06,000 --> 00:03:08,120
Speaker 2: Katie made the point. And there is a lot of

51
00:03:08,120 --> 00:03:12,360
Speaker 2: additional costs also with any oil and petroleum product, So

52
00:03:12,960 --> 00:03:18,480
Speaker 2: kerosene that's used for making bitchumen, all the oil lubricants

53
00:03:18,720 --> 00:03:22,200
Speaker 2: that go into every type of machinery, whether it's heavy

54
00:03:22,440 --> 00:03:26,320
Speaker 2: earth moving equipment as well as trucks, all of that

55
00:03:26,360 --> 00:03:29,280
Speaker 2: has gone up twenty percent in the last week. So

56
00:03:29,760 --> 00:03:32,440
Speaker 2: that has a huge impact on the bottom line as well.

57
00:03:32,639 --> 00:03:34,840
Speaker 1: It most certainly does. Gee it's going to make it

58
00:03:34,880 --> 00:03:38,880
Speaker 1: difficult for so many different industries. And I think that

59
00:03:39,280 --> 00:03:41,880
Speaker 1: you know, when we're talking about freight, a lot of us,

60
00:03:41,960 --> 00:03:45,119
Speaker 1: you know, you sort of don't consider just how much

61
00:03:45,200 --> 00:03:47,160
Speaker 1: we rely on this in the territory.

62
00:03:48,440 --> 00:03:51,440
Speaker 2: And we saw, Katie, didn't we win the floods were

63
00:03:51,880 --> 00:03:56,120
Speaker 2: in South Australia. What happens when you can't get straight through,

64
00:03:56,640 --> 00:04:00,840
Speaker 2: but what happens when you can't afford to actually be

65
00:04:01,400 --> 00:04:07,040
Speaker 2: moving freight? And most trucking companies are aware of the

66
00:04:07,040 --> 00:04:12,000
Speaker 2: importance of applying a fuel levy or fuel surcharge. When

67
00:04:12,400 --> 00:04:16,560
Speaker 2: the price is so volatile and erratic it's gone up

68
00:04:16,560 --> 00:04:20,200
Speaker 2: twenty five cents in a week, companies can't absorb that

69
00:04:20,560 --> 00:04:24,400
Speaker 2: if it goes up another fifty seventy five cents a lita.

70
00:04:25,400 --> 00:04:28,960
Speaker 2: And as I explained to you some time ago, most

71
00:04:29,040 --> 00:04:34,720
Speaker 2: road trains burn more than a litera a kilometer, So

72
00:04:34,880 --> 00:04:37,840
Speaker 2: it's not hard for you to calculate just how much

73
00:04:38,360 --> 00:04:41,919
Speaker 2: fuel is used in the road transport industry. It's about

74
00:04:41,920 --> 00:04:45,800
Speaker 2: twenty percent of a trucking company's operating costs.

75
00:04:46,080 --> 00:04:50,600
Speaker 1: Wow, Louise, these discussions they sound like they're very real,

76
00:04:50,760 --> 00:04:54,120
Speaker 1: and they're happening right now. That the reality here is

77
00:04:54,240 --> 00:04:58,360
Speaker 1: that those companies that the industry is talking about what

78
00:04:58,400 --> 00:05:02,600
Speaker 1: they need to do to try to absorb, well, they're

79
00:05:02,600 --> 00:05:04,479
Speaker 1: not going to be able to absorb those costs. What

80
00:05:04,480 --> 00:05:07,320
Speaker 1: they're going to need to do in terms of passing

81
00:05:07,320 --> 00:05:08,840
Speaker 1: on a percentage to the consumer.

82
00:05:10,279 --> 00:05:13,839
Speaker 2: That's right, that's exactly right. And then as I said,

83
00:05:13,880 --> 00:05:17,720
Speaker 2: what becomes affordable and what's not affordable, how people spend,

84
00:05:18,160 --> 00:05:22,560
Speaker 2: How this impacts the wider economy, and we don't know

85
00:05:22,640 --> 00:05:27,200
Speaker 2: where this international volatility is going to go. You know,

86
00:05:27,520 --> 00:05:30,200
Speaker 2: Australia is no longer in a bubble, as we are

87
00:05:30,400 --> 00:05:35,880
Speaker 2: well aware through COVID, and it is directly affecting everyone's

88
00:05:35,920 --> 00:05:36,960
Speaker 2: bottom line.

89
00:05:37,279 --> 00:05:40,760
Speaker 1: Louise, how are those in the industry feeling right now?

90
00:05:40,839 --> 00:05:43,480
Speaker 1: I mean they must be pretty concerned.

91
00:05:44,680 --> 00:05:49,560
Speaker 2: Extremely well. Everyone is looking at their bottom line and

92
00:05:50,440 --> 00:05:53,800
Speaker 2: very concerned, you know, trying to ensure that they've got

93
00:05:53,839 --> 00:06:00,000
Speaker 2: those duel levees applied. Some of our smaller operators haven't

94
00:06:00,040 --> 00:06:03,159
Speaker 2: viously done that, but they can't afford to be price

95
00:06:03,200 --> 00:06:07,400
Speaker 2: takers as they have, otherwise they won't be in business.

96
00:06:07,760 --> 00:06:11,360
Speaker 2: And you know, knowing that, you know, it was tires,

97
00:06:11,560 --> 00:06:16,640
Speaker 2: it was people's wages. Now it's duel and all the

98
00:06:16,680 --> 00:06:19,760
Speaker 2: oils and lubricants. You know, there's nothing that hasn't been

99
00:06:19,880 --> 00:06:26,000
Speaker 2: touched either through the COVID pandemic, with the demands on

100
00:06:26,680 --> 00:06:31,880
Speaker 2: the freight task, with the floods and now this, Yeah,

101
00:06:31,960 --> 00:06:36,200
Speaker 2: it's massive. No one's got a little war chest to

102
00:06:36,279 --> 00:06:37,880
Speaker 2: be able to easily tap into.

103
00:06:38,120 --> 00:06:41,560
Speaker 1: Yeah, Louise. Somebody had made the comment on the tech

104
00:06:41,640 --> 00:06:44,760
Speaker 1: sign saying that transport companies get diesel rebates, so they're

105
00:06:44,800 --> 00:06:46,159
Speaker 1: not so badly impacted.

106
00:06:46,200 --> 00:06:50,320
Speaker 2: But is that the case, Yes, they get I think

107
00:06:50,320 --> 00:06:53,440
Speaker 2: it's sixteen and a half cents a litera off, so

108
00:06:53,880 --> 00:06:59,480
Speaker 2: it's and primary producers get more per liter off at

109
00:06:59,600 --> 00:07:03,719
Speaker 2: next side. But when you consider the amount of fuel

110
00:07:03,920 --> 00:07:08,800
Speaker 2: that's used to move freight, as it said, more than

111
00:07:09,120 --> 00:07:15,920
Speaker 2: a leter per kilometer transported, it's a very different context.

112
00:07:15,960 --> 00:07:22,280
Speaker 2: So yes, everyone is aware because transport operators are in

113
00:07:22,320 --> 00:07:26,560
Speaker 2: the real world, so their family cars fueling them up

114
00:07:26,680 --> 00:07:34,240
Speaker 2: is going to be affecting them, but they're operating costs, yeah, through.

115
00:07:34,160 --> 00:07:37,760
Speaker 1: The roof, Louise, When are you expecting that you know that,

116
00:07:38,240 --> 00:07:40,640
Speaker 1: I know that you've said that those meetings are happening

117
00:07:40,720 --> 00:07:43,560
Speaker 1: right now. The different people in the industry are having

118
00:07:43,560 --> 00:07:46,800
Speaker 1: to make these pretty tough decisions right now and really

119
00:07:46,800 --> 00:07:50,680
Speaker 1: looking at those prices continuing to rise. When do you

120
00:07:50,760 --> 00:07:55,760
Speaker 1: anticipate that territories are going to sort of feel the

121
00:07:55,800 --> 00:07:56,480
Speaker 1: impact of that.

122
00:07:58,080 --> 00:08:01,320
Speaker 2: I think straight away it's I mean, as I say

123
00:08:01,640 --> 00:08:04,840
Speaker 2: it's it's already gone above two dollars eight a later,

124
00:08:05,200 --> 00:08:08,360
Speaker 2: and we know that the price in Darwin or in

125
00:08:08,480 --> 00:08:13,120
Speaker 2: Catherine isn't the price that's reflected elsewhere in our remote

126
00:08:13,120 --> 00:08:17,400
Speaker 2: communities in the territory anyway. So there will be that

127
00:08:17,520 --> 00:08:23,280
Speaker 2: fuel surcharge being applied as of you know absolutely right now.

128
00:08:23,920 --> 00:08:27,720
Speaker 2: It's what happens as it gets higher and higher. And

129
00:08:27,760 --> 00:08:31,360
Speaker 2: that's because you know a lot of our no but

130
00:08:31,440 --> 00:08:35,880
Speaker 2: doubt people have discussed this before, our diesel powered generating

131
00:08:35,920 --> 00:08:40,760
Speaker 2: plants in remote communities. You know, civil contractors, you know,

132
00:08:41,120 --> 00:08:46,360
Speaker 2: having to make contingencies forward for the costs of future

133
00:08:46,400 --> 00:08:51,160
Speaker 2: materials if they've already got contracts locked in place. You know,

134
00:08:51,200 --> 00:08:54,160
Speaker 2: there's there's a whole heap of other knock on effects

135
00:08:54,200 --> 00:08:57,200
Speaker 2: that will yeah, certainly affect their bottom line.

136
00:08:57,320 --> 00:08:59,480
Speaker 1: Oh you spot on, It's going to have an impact

137
00:08:59,480 --> 00:09:02,840
Speaker 1: in so many ways. Luise Blato will keep in contact

138
00:09:02,880 --> 00:09:05,040
Speaker 1: with you. I reckon that you know that we're probably

139
00:09:05,040 --> 00:09:07,600
Speaker 1: going to be speaking over the coming days and weeks

140
00:09:07,640 --> 00:09:10,360
Speaker 1: as we see these these prices go up. I really

141
00:09:10,440 --> 00:09:12,720
Speaker 1: appreciate your time this morning. Thanks for chatting with me.

142
00:09:13,720 --> 00:09:15,080
Speaker 2: Thank you, Katie, thank you