Government Fast-Tracks Emergency Process to Aid Truck Drivers Amid Fuel Price Surge

New amendments will allow truck drivers to apply for emergency orders more quickly to ensure they are paid enough to cover fuel costs.

A driver gets into his truck seat before leaving the container terminal at the Port of Melbourne in Melbourne, Australia, on Sept. 4, 2024. William West/AFP via Getty Images

The federal government has brought in a change to help truck drivers deal with rising fuel prices amid the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

Under new amendments to the Fair Work Act, truck drivers and transport companies can apply for emergency orders requiring their clients—such as retailers, mining companies and manufacturers—to pay enough to cover higher fuel costs.

Previously, getting this kind of order could take at least six months, but the new rules remove that long wait.

The Australian Trucking Association (ATA) is one of the industry bodies that has advocated for the move, which is being administered via the Fair Work Commission.

ATA CEO Mathew Munro said the terminal gate price (wholesale) of diesel had risen from less than 166 cents (US$1.16) per litre to more than 295 cents per litre because of the Iran war.

It is the biggest fuel price spike in history, and Munro said there would be no relief in the foreseeable future.

“Trucking businesses cannot absorb this increase, and most cannot pass it on. Without immediate action, the trucks will stop. And when the trucks stop, Australia stops,” he said in a statement.

“This is an emergency. The ATA stands today with the government, with the union, with our employers and with our small operators in full support of this announcement.

“We will do everything we can to help speed the amendment through parliament.”

Meanwhile, Employment Minister Amanda Rishworth said truck drivers “deserve access to a fair go.”

“Without a viable transport industry, our national economy stops so it’s really important that our truckies and our transport industry is able to get a fair go,” she said.

“This measure will ensure that when we face circumstances like we do now, that truckies and transport associations have access to a pathway to argue for a fair go.

“The change we are making today is ensuring that in these types of urgent situations, the Fair Work Commission will not have to consult for the full six months, they'll be able to consider it urgently.”

The Epoch Times contacted The Australian Retail Council, the shadow spokeswoman for industrial relations Jane Hume and the Minerals Council of Australia for comment.

Oil Impact on Consumer Confidence

The measure comes as a new ANZ-Roy Morgan poll revealed consumer confidence had dropped 5.4 points to 63.1 this week amid economic uncertainty.

The number is now 21.1 points lower than it was in March 2025.

It is also a record low since consumer confidence tracking began in 1973, falling below even the 65.3 points recorded during the COVID-19 pandemic.

ANZ economist Sophia Angala said the Middle East conflict and its impact on oil prices was a major factor alongside the Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) decision last week to increase the cash rate to 4.10 percent.

“With very large increases in petrol prices through March, inflation expectations rose to an all-time high last week,” she said.

“Household confidence in their current and future finances weakened sharply, as did the ‘time to buy a major household item’ subindex, which is at its lowest since late March 2020 when pandemic lockdowns were announced.

“Concerns around upside inflation risks and urgency to keep inflation expectations anchored are likely to support a final 25 basic point rate hike by the RBA in May, taking the cash rate to 4.35 percent.”