Truckie Adam Craig has delivered a blunt ultimatum to Canberra: start taking responsibility for the fuel crisis, or watch the transport industry shut down.
As diesel prices continue to surge and operators buckle under the pressure, in his second hard-hitting video message to industry and those in power below, Craig said the time for talk is over.
“If you are going to park up, park up for a purpose and a reason. Send a message to this government,” Craig said.
“Say, no – you’re crippling the transport industry.”
Craig, who warned in his first video to Big Rigs readers on March 10, that truckies would park up when diesel got close to $3 a litre, said the breaking point has already arrived for many.
“In the last five days, five of them have parked up,” he said, referring to owner-drivers in his network.
“They don’t want to be working 17 hours a day, for $1500 a week and be away from home every day.”
Craig also stressed that it’s time for more accountability from those in power.
He said governments should be treated like any other business that fails to deliver.
“If you’re in a business and you’ve got people, not achieving their goals, you’d be bringing them in and saying, what the hell’s going on?” he said.
“So why isn’t our finance minister, energy minister, transport minister, being held accountable?”
Craig didn’t hold back, questioning how leaders could be caught off guard by a crisis now hitting operators in the hip pocket every time they fill up.
“A week ago it was everything’s all sweet, now they’re looking at $4 at the pump,” he said.
“I’m spending an extra $1600 to $1700 every time I fill up, that’s double the cost.”
And he warned the pain hasn’t even reached the broader public yet.
“There hasn’t been a flow-on effect yet,” he said.
“But once it gets there, you’ll feel the pinch.”
Craig dismissed recent government moves to fast-track fuel levy recovery as little more than a stopgap.
“That’s a Band-Aid replacement,” he said.
“As soon as fuel prices come down, the industry is still in trouble.”
Instead, he said the only way to force change is to hit government where it counts, by exposing just how dependent Australia is on trucks.
“Everything that you touch runs through the back of a truck,” he said.
“From your furniture, your clothes… your coffee – everything.”
And if enough operators pull up, the consequences will be immediate.
“If the transport industry starts parking up properly, this country will shut down, plain and simple.”
Craig also turned his fire on the industry’s own leadership, imploring peak bodies to present a united front while operators struggle.
“You’ve all got great ideas… but if you’ve all got different ideas, nothing’s going to get done,” he said.
“You all need to come together and bang that drum.”
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