At this crucial stage in the delivery of a historic reform to the way our nation regulates its trucking industry, Federal Cabinet has opted for continuity at the top of the independent statutory body charged with finalising the process – the National Transport Commission (NTC).

To maintain the momentum of reform as well as prevent the loss of specialist corporate knowledge, all five commissioners whose terms expired on 30 June this year have been reappointed for a further two years until 2013.

The reappointed commissioners are:

• Mr Greg Martin PSM (Chair);


• Professor Ian Johnston AM (Deputy Chair);


• Mr Bill Noonan OAM;


• Ms Julie-Anne Schafer; and


• Mr Frank Muller.

Established by the Hawke and Keating Labor Government in 1991 and bringing together Federal, State and Territory officials, the NTC has achieved incremental improvements and greater national consistency across many aspects of road policy and laws.

However the task of finalising the new national laws which will replace the nine existing state-based regulatory regimes which have long frustrated truck drivers and add to the cost of moving freight, is by far its greatest challenge to date.

Implementation of this reform from 2013 will reduce the number of regulators nationwide from nine to just one, an outcome which will improve safety, simplify the compliance task for operators, lift productivity and boost national income by up to $30 billion.

I thank each of the commissioners for their commitment to public service and agreeing to stay on. I look forward to continuing to work with them and the industry to get this long sought after microeconomic reform done.

For more information about the NTC and its reform agenda go to: www.ntc.gov.au.