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Speaker 1: Last week we caught up with the Northern Territory Transport Association,

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Speaker 1: the Road Transport Association following monsoonal rain to find out

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Speaker 1: what impacts it's having on road freight and also food supplies.

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Speaker 1: Now at the time there were some concerns for parts

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Speaker 1: of the Stuart Highway, particularly around Tenant Creek and on

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Speaker 1: the Berkley Highway. Joining me on the line right now

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Speaker 1: from the Northern Territory Road Transport Association, the chief executive

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Speaker 1: Louise Belacho, Good morning to you, Louise.

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Speaker 2: Good morning Katie, Louise.

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Speaker 1: How are things going on our roads at the moment?

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Speaker 2: Well, very busy for the truckies over the weekend with

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Speaker 2: the rail line closed near Tenant Creek, so there was

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Speaker 2: a huge push and I know some of our managers

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Speaker 2: of trucking companies that don't usually drive were in trucks

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Speaker 2: trying to move the container freight from our springs through

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Speaker 2: to Darwin to try and reduce the amount of disruption

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Speaker 2: that we would be experiencing otherwise with the rail line

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Speaker 2: down probably for a few more days. So that was

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Speaker 2: a huge uplift and again pull credit to the truckies

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Speaker 2: who stepped up and have made sure that we try

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Speaker 2: and keep it as seamless as possible. With the rail

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Speaker 2: not able to get through to day Owen.

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Speaker 1: Oh, absolutely, it means that we've all still got everything

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Speaker 1: that we need or the you know, the large majority

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Speaker 1: of what we sort of need. How many extra you know,

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Speaker 1: how many extra trucks are on the road, or how

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Speaker 1: many extra sort of resources were required.

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Speaker 2: Well, we had probably about a dozen extra triple road trains.

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Speaker 2: The tricky thing for the rail is that the containers

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Speaker 2: are forty eight foot long, and so they don't just

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Speaker 2: sit comfortably on a regular flattop. They need scale trailers

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Speaker 2: that will accommodate those larger rail containers. So that adds

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Speaker 2: another dimension to the regius exercise. It's not just a

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Speaker 2: simple straightforward off the rail. In Alice Springs and up

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Speaker 2: to Darwin there was a lot more coordinated effort and

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Speaker 2: also there was more refrigerated vans needed to move some

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Speaker 2: of the perishable freights off the rail to do Alista

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Speaker 2: dah and run who usually would have been going Darwin

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Speaker 2: back to Adelaide and back again. So there was a

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Speaker 2: bit of shuffling, or there still is shuffling around to

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Speaker 2: make sure that the two retailers are fully stopped. But

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Speaker 2: our bigger issue at the moment is obviously supporting Kananara

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Speaker 2: and Hawse Creek because their only lifeline these days is

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Speaker 2: the Victoria Highway and the Stewart Highway. And as you know,

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Speaker 2: the Victoria River peaked at the bridge overnight. I think

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Speaker 2: it was two meters above the bridge height, and it's

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Speaker 2: on its way down supposedly, but that could take three

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Speaker 2: or four days at least, and we're hoping that the

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Speaker 2: road infrastructure around the Victoria Highway and the Inn hasn't

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Speaker 2: been damaged so that that road can be reopened. But Katie,

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Speaker 2: the other tricky thing is the Timber Creek now and

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Speaker 2: where the low is sitting over that region still and

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Speaker 2: what that might mean for if the Timber Creek is flooded,

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Speaker 2: then it doesn't matter that the Victoria River comes down

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Speaker 2: for those people in Klenara.

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Speaker 1: And so Luise, are you sort of expecting at this

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Speaker 1: point in time any delays when it comes to, you know,

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Speaker 1: to those areas that you've just spoken about, or any

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Speaker 1: further concerns by the sounds of it all eyes or

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Speaker 1: on those areas.

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Speaker 2: Yes, they are well, huge concerns obviously, the West Australian

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Speaker 2: Government is looking at military capacity sitting in Catherine today,

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Speaker 2: see what air freight needs to be moved into or

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Speaker 2: food stuffs into Kannanara by air. And they're also looking

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Speaker 2: at the barge that has been going from Broom to

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Speaker 2: Derby whilst that road's been out of action, to look

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Speaker 2: at whether that can be taken across to Wyndham to

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Speaker 2: support the community there, because it's not just Cumanara and

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Speaker 2: Horse Creek, it's all the other communities in between and Balgo.

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Speaker 2: So yeah, the territory essentially is a lifeline for them

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Speaker 2: now and the rains and you know the weather events

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Speaker 2: have just been unprecedented. Yeah.

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Speaker 1: Gee it's tough, isn't it for some of those communities.

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Speaker 1: And then you look at what's going on in you know,

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Speaker 1: just over the border, I suppose in Wa there and

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Speaker 1: we know how it feels to be cut off like that.

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Speaker 1: So if there is any way that the Northern Territory

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Speaker 1: can help, it can only be a good thing.

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Speaker 2: Yes, Yes, the West Australian Government also mount a freight

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Speaker 2: subsidy for those businesses affected because we know that we've

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Speaker 2: got trucks stopped in Catherine as we speak with, you know,

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Speaker 2: fertilizers and seeds and you know, items for the or

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Speaker 2: driver businesses that are waiting for those supplies to be

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Speaker 2: able to do their thing this dry season, and they're

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Speaker 2: paying a lot more for the cost of straight in

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Speaker 2: that area because you know, the Vitory crossing bridge is

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Speaker 2: out and will be out for probably two years. You know,

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Speaker 2: we're hoping for the causeway in the dry season to

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Speaker 2: be up and running, but that's going to take a

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Speaker 2: huge amount of effort.

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Speaker 1: Louise, how many of those trucks are stuck in Catherine

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Speaker 1: at this point.

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Speaker 2: I was trying to get numbers first thing this morning.

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Speaker 2: They seem to be spread out a little bit, but

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Speaker 2: there's probably at least a dozen waiting to across to

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Speaker 2: Kananara and the Ord right now. Maybe if you lessen

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Speaker 2: that doing the business runs. But we've got fuel trucks

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Speaker 2: also who are waiting to get through to service those communities.

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Speaker 2: Some of them managed to get through before the river

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Speaker 2: went up on the weekend and just not through, but

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Speaker 2: they're waiting to get back now too.

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Speaker 1: Oh, it's tough going, really tough going for them, Luise.

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Speaker 1: Before I let you go, we've been talking sort of

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Speaker 1: cost of living. I know that everybody is at this point,

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Speaker 1: but I did note that Federal Labor had a proposal

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Speaker 1: to impose a ten percent per year increase in fuel

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Speaker 1: taxes and registration charges on the nation's truck ees. It

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Speaker 1: would cost Australia's near fifty thousand trucking companies an additional

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Speaker 1: two point six billion dollars over three years. Is what

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Speaker 1: is being reported. What's your take on this?

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Speaker 2: Well, we put in a submission in response to that

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Speaker 2: for the road you use a charge to actually reflect

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Speaker 2: the cost of doing business in remote Australia because all

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Speaker 2: of our truckees, besides having to pay a road user

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Speaker 2: charge for roads that are impassable or substandard a lot

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Speaker 2: of the time, like now, we're paying the same road

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Speaker 2: user charge that the Eastern Seaboard does who are able

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Speaker 2: to operate twelve months of the year. So our submission

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Speaker 2: calls for an incentive for Remote Australia by halving the

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Speaker 2: road user charge rather than actually seeing an increase in

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Speaker 2: the cost of that. The Northern Territory Government has understood

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Speaker 2: the impact of registration, So the Northern Territory Government registration

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Speaker 2: heavy vehicle registrations haven't kept up with the Eastern seaboards

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Speaker 2: under the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator for years. With our

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Speaker 2: price rise in October was one point five percent into eight,

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Speaker 2: they were looking at three point seven percent registration hikes.

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Speaker 2: So we're saying the same with the road user charges,

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Speaker 2: that it should not be a one size foot fits

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Speaker 2: all road user charge. Besides the freight costs, fuel costs

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Speaker 2: is more in remote Australia, and you just can't do

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Speaker 2: business twenty four to seven, three hundred and sixty five

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Speaker 2: days of the year. It's not a level playing field.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I think it's an incredibly good point and no

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Speaker 1: doubt well by the sounds of one, sounds of it

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Speaker 1: one that you've definitely made very clear, which is a

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Speaker 1: great thing. Louise Belato. It is always good to catch

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Speaker 1: up with you. I really appreciate your time this morning.

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Speaker 2: Thank you very much, Katie, thank you