MTA Issues A Pass Mark for Govt But More Action Needed

The Motor Trade Association (MTA) says progress on roads of national significance and clean car standards has earned the Government a pass mark.

However, they say in their annual ‘Warrant of Fitness’ check on those in power that a few key areas require urgent work.

MTA Chief Executive Lee Marshall says the Government has moved decisively in some key areas affecting the automotive and transport sectors in its first year.

The group believes the Government also earns credit for action to ease the driver licence testing backlog and increasing fees for tow truck operators.

“Much of the policy change that MTA called for before the election has been actioned,” Mr Marshall says.

“The Government promised to…address a number of key areas, and deserves credit for doing so.”

However, it gets a fail rating for the prolonged indecision on industry training, a lack of action on a Warrant of Fitness review, and the silence on red tape affecting the sector.

On the former topic, Marshall says “They’ve now had more than a year – given it was an early pre-election policy for National – to come up with a new model to attract and train people, and address the labour shortage affecting many automotive businesses.

“And they’ve had plenty of advice from MTA and industry on what training should look like, for industry, by industry.” But Marshall feels the rate of progress remains glacial.

In the first WOF assessment six months ago, the Government was deemed roadworthy but received fails for crime, immigration and industry training.

Despite steps to address sentencing and introducing community beat patrols, action on crime remains a fail, says the MTA. Service stations remain one of the most vulnerable targets for criminals.

“Good on the Government for tackling the retail crime with a range of measures – what we’d like to see next is action to specifically protect service stations, which are the victims of violent crime at least twice a week on average,” Mr Marshall says.

“Overall though, we are pleased the Government has engaged with and listened to industry and we look forward to working with them to drive more positive change next year.”