In the Australian Trucking Association’s report card Labor scores two ticks out of four while the Liberal-National Coalition scores four ticks out of four for policies benefitting the transport industry.

The Australian Trucking Association (ATA) has awarded the Labor Party two ticks out of four, and the Coalition four ticks out of four, in its 2013 election report card.

The ATA released the report card today. It assesses the parties against four criteria: their achievements in government, and their policies on the carbon tax, better roads and road access, and truck taxes and
charges.

The Chairman of the ATA, David Simon, said the report card showed the Labor Party still planned to extend its carbon tax to the fuel used in trucks.

“The tax would start at about 1.6 cents per litre instead of the 6.858 cents per litre in Labor’s original plan. It would not stay at 1.6 cents per litre, though. Using Treasury figures from the Pre-Election Economic and Fiscal
Outlook, the ATA estimates the carbon tax would increase to 5.1 cents per litre by July 2016,” Mr Simon said.

“In contrast, the Liberal-National Coalition has confirmed it would abolish the carbon tax.

“Australia’s governments are looking at tracking and billing trucks by satellite. Under this plan, known as mass-distance-location pricing, every one of Australia’s 534,000 trucks would be fitted with a special GPS tracking
device. Trucking operators would receive bills based on how far their trucks went, the roads they used and an assessment of their mass.

“In the lead up to the election campaign, the ATA called on the Labor Party and the Coalition to announce they would, if elected, halt the move to satellite based tracking and billing.

“The Labor Party did not respond to this call in its response to our election questionnaire. In contrast, the Coalition pledged that it would not move to a satellite based system without extensive industry consultation.

“The report card shows the Labor Party and the Coalition both have strong records of achievement in government and sound plans to build better roads and truck rest areas.

“I urge everyone in the trucking industry to consider the factual information in our report card as they decide how to vote on 7 September,” Mr Simon said.

The report card and background information are available at www.truck.net.au/2013election.

Whatever political persuasion you have just don’t forget to vote!     

Australian voters must fill in their ballot papers correctly to ensure their vote counts  in Saturday’s federal election, the AEC said today.

Electoral Commissioner Ed Killesteyn said people will be asked to complete two ballot  papers, for voting in the House of Representatives and in the Senate.

Instructions are provided on the top of each ballot paper, but if you make a mistake, just ask  a polling official for a replacement ballot paper and start again.”

On the green House of Representatives ballot paper, voters must number every box in their order of preference, starting at ‘1’ and continuing until they have consecutively  numbered all the boxes.

On the white Senate ballot paper, voters have the choice to either mark one box above the line with a ‘1’ for the party or group of their choice, or number every box below the line for each candidate in order of preference.

Mr Killesteyn said each voter has the final say on how they number candidates on the two ballot papers on Saturday.

“While candidate representatives outside polling places may offer you a ‘how to vote’ card, the final decision rests with you and it is a secret ballot. Polling places open at 8am on Saturday and voting will continue through to 6pm sharp,” he said.

“If you can’t make it to a polling place on Saturday, early voting is still  available today and on Friday up until 6pm at about 500 early voting locations around Australia.”

• Find your local polling place         Polling places with disabled access are indicated.

Comprehensive lists of polling places will also be advertised in major metropolitan  newspapers tomorrow, Friday 6 September.

On election day, polling officials and translated information will be available to assist voters from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, and at some locations there will be bilingual polling officials wearing a special badge identifying which language they speak, for voters requiring further  assistance.