Assistant Minister for Road Safety and Freight Transport, Scott Buchholz today addressed the 79th conference of the Refrigerated Warehouse and Transport Association of Australia (RWTA) in Noosa to outline a post-Covid recovery for the transport industry.
A former road transport operator himself, Buchholz said Covid acted as a catalyst for panic buying, which put an enormous strain on the freight and supply chain, including the members of the RWTA.
“We saw supermarkets shelves and fridges cleared and the industry working around the clock to meet this demand,” he said.
“And at every event the industry, our truckies and freight and logistics workers rose to the challenge.”
Buchholz also highlighted the substantial federal government investment in road infrastructure and taxation measures available to transport businesses in recovering from Covid-19 related shutdowns.
“Rebuilding our economy from COVID means building more roads, bridges and transport infrastructure,” he said.
“We’re investing $110 billion over 10 years from 2020-21 in transport infrastructure across Australia through our rolling infrastructure plan.
“Never in Australia’s history have we not spent more on transport infrastructure to bust congestion, better connect our regions, improve safety on our roads and meet our national freight challenge.
Buchholz said another the government is helping businesses such as the RWTA members bounce back from Covid is through business-friendly taxation measures.
“The supercharged Instant Asset Write Off, Temporary Full Expensing and Loss Carry Back Offset. Not only are these measures business friendly, they are investment friendly and job friendly.
“It’s about getting business back to what they do best and that is supporting our country and creating jobs.”