New push for truck industry reform in honour of six-year-old boy killed in 2004

Her son was killed by a truck driver, now she’s taking on a “dangerous” industry that’s a threat to every Australian family.

The mother of a six-year-old boy killed by a truck is pleading for the new government to reinstate a road safety watchdog amid the rise of the gig economy.

Jasmine Payget’s son Rian was killed in November 2004 when the family car was struck by a truck on the Hume Highway.

Now, she’s teamed up with road safety advocates and a union to push for the government to reinstate the Road Safety Tribunal, which was axed by the Turnbull government in 2016.

Ms Payget said she wanted no other family to go through what she went through.

“The Road Safety Tribunal would really make a difference because I understand the pressures on truck drivers to drive fast and long (distances), and (they) don’t have enough sleep, and don’t have good conditions – and all of that is possible to change,” she said.

“All we need is the will. And we have had a number of years where there’s been no will to have a basic level of safety that exists in other industries.

“For me, it’s unbelievable how difficult and dangerous truck driving has been and continues to be, even though trucks have become safer. There’s a number of mechanisms to make things work better.”

Jasmine Payget lost her son Rian in 2004 when their family car was hit by a truck. Now she’s joined the TWU to call for industry-wide reform. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

Transport Workers’ Union president Michael Kaine said trucking had become the most dangerous industry, which had been exacerbated since the tribunal was torn down.

“We face a present and urgent threat to every family that is out on our road because this an industry under massive pressure. It’s an industry under pressure that needs a regulatory response,” Mr Kaine said.

“And that pressure has been amplified as we’ve seen the emergence of the gig economy

“We’ve seen Amazon Flex come into the heart of freight and set up a gig-style arrangement. They engage workers, push them outside of the normal protections that exist for the rest of the Australian community.

“They exploit those workers.”

TWU national secretary Michael Kaine said the gig industry was harming the trucking industry and putting Australians at risk. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

Labor senator Tony Sheldon said there was an opportunity under the new government to “make change”.

“People deserve to be able to live and work at a fair rate of pay. And I mean live, so they can actually survive to go home to their families,” he said.

“As it stands at the moment, this lack of regulation that existed under the previous government means people are dying and they’re being exploited.”

Senator Sheldon said road safety regulation would be a priority and would most likely culminate in reinstating the tribunal, in addition to a wider crackdown on the gig economy as has been promised.

“Jasmine demonstrates that urgency. It’s quite clear that it has to be an urgent consideration,” he said.

Originally published as New push for truck industry reform in honour of six-year-old boy killed in 2004