Events Leading to the Truck Drivers’ Blockade of 1979
Razorback Blockade occurred in April 1979 but the events leading to it began decades earlier…
1930 - 1950
In the early 1930s the state railways of New South Wales were believed necessary to promote settlement. They were not run for financial gain and often ran at a loss. By 1931, road-haulage began to challenge the viability of railways and ‘The State Transport Act 1931’ was introduced. Owners of public and commercial vehicles now had to pay to obtain a licence and those carting freight beyond 20 miles (32 km) on a route that competed with rail incurred a ton-mile levy. The fee was calculated depending on the suitability of it being delivered by rail. Charges were levied on the aggregate tare weight plus load capacity, and were payable whether loaded or not.
1950 - 1960
In 1952 the States applied ton per mile taxes to interstate road haulage in an attempt to limit the extent of goods moved over their borders. Mr. R.W.V. Rowe of the Long Distance Road Transport Association was reported in the Goulburn Evening Post as saying “this is no longer a lone battle” and believed “this will unite kindred bodies including the Master Carriers’ Association in various states to work together to overturn the tax”. However, this was not to be and the law remained.
Around this time several railway systems established the Forwarding Agents Scheme. Railways freighted goods from one major city to another, then road transport operators would take the goods from there. Freight Forwarding Companies came to rely on owner-drivers as sub-contractors. Unsurprisingly, not all ‘subbies’ would agree with business choices made by the larger companies.
On July 7th, 1952, solicitors on behalf of Mr Ron Vale and Mr Michael Hughes, of Hughes & Vale Pty Ltd, unsuccessfully issued a writ in the High Court of Australia, challenging the validity of the State Transport (Co-ordination) Act. The solicitors then took the case to the Privy Council where they succeeded in November 1954. Cross-border charges were now illegal but it would not be long before another fee was added.
‘Road Maintenance Charges’ were introduced in 1956, initially in Victoria, then in every state except Tasmania under varying acts such as The Road Maintenance (Contribution) Act of 1958. This act stated that a proportion of monies collected needed to go to a separate fund purely for the purpose of road maintenance. Charges were levied on a ton-mile basis driven within each state and applied to vehicles depending on their load capacities. Different states nominated different weights and lengths placing drivers in a very difficult situation; they would load legally in one state, cross a border and be illegally loaded.
Truck owners needed to submit a declaration in each state every month of their trips including the date, start and end point, and the miles or later kilometres covered. They needed to calculate total miles travelled each month in each state, tally and pay the amount owed to each state government and pay any fines for overloading. Incorrect or non-submissions would result in fines and further audits. Non-payment of fines could result in gaol time. For many, it did!
In 1958 hundreds of owner-drivers converged on Sydney Parliament House in a demonstration, meeting with The Member for Bankstown, Mr. Powell, but the ‘Road Maintenance Charges’ stayed.
1960 – 1970
In the financial year of 1965-1966 over 7,000 convictions resulted with the collection of over $7.5 million in fines from hauliers according to figures from the Commissioner for Motor Transport, New South Wales Annual Reports.
1970 – 1979
Close to a decade later, the 1974-1975 financial year saw the number of convictions rise to over 10,000 with fines almost doubling the 1965-1966 figure to $14,448,311.
In 1976 The Australian Newspaper warned of trouble in the industry. At Mt Ousley drivers successfully protested to have Citizen Band (CB) radios legalised. They could now communicate with each other as they travelled the highways.
In 1977 The National Times quoted the Professional Transport Drivers Association as saying ‘Independent contractors account for up to 75% of the interstate road transport industry, and the independent subbies now have it so bad that the situation demands a public enquiry.’
During 1978 three protests were held in the city of Sydney. Parliament House, in Macquarie Street was sealed off during the May protest by 32 large trucks that blocked the streets in a protest when the Truckers Action Committee held a stoppage. In August 1978 NSW Transport Minister Peter Cox announced the setting up of an enquiry into the road haulage industry. The truckies waited. Nothing further was announced. Truckies took to the streets of Canberra and Sydney again in September and it was about this time the TWU obtained a 15% award rise for its employee members which regretfully did not apply to independent owner-drivers.
Around November a meeting of drivers was held at the Liverpool RSL. A union representative was invited and attended.
1979
In February, Transport Workers' Union officials and owner-drivers clashed at Sydney Trades Hall during a meeting about a potential truck blockade in Sydney. The truckies complained about fuel, road and vehicle taxes.
A meeting at Liverpool speedway was held in mid-March with the ‘Trucks against Government’ leading the meeting. NSW branch of the TWU official, Jeff Martin was in attendance. Among the attendees were Ted Stevens, Barry Grimson, Jack Hibbert, Carle Goodfellow, Colin Bird and Billy Shaw. Jeff Martin agreed to take their concerns to the union but when he returned to the next meeting nothing had been achieved.
The men were promised an application to meet the NSW Minister for Transport. Approximately ten weeks later, when no meeting had occurred, the men began contacting the union. When their calls went unanswered the men, once again, parked their rigs around the union building. While waiting to speak to union members Barry Grimson popped down to a radio station and spoke briefly on air saying drivers were considering a blockade. The following morning a brief report appeared in the newspaper.
Sometime later, approximately 500 truckies, including members of Trucks Against Government drove through Sydney with placards reading ‘Abolish Road Tax Now’. The truckies drove up to and around Parliament House before adjourning to Hyde Park for a further meeting.
April 2nd 1979
Five drivers parked their rigs across the highway at the top of Razorback Mountain and the rest is history.
Events Pertaining to Razorback Mountain 1979
Sunday 1st April 1979
Ted Stevens called a meeting with like-minded drivers at his home to discuss the previously proposed roadblock. A vote was taken and five drivers: Ted Stevens, Barry Grimson, Jack Hibbert, Colin Bird and Spencer Watling agreed to blockade Razorback Mountain at 5pm the following day. They were taking a stand to have road tax abolished, lift freight rates for owner-drivers and gain uniformity of state regulations.
Monday 2nd April 1979
The men met at Razorback Mountain. Colin Bird parked his SAR Kenworth across the road followed by Ted Stevens, Jack Hibbert and Spencer Watling. Barry Grimson parked across the old Razorback Highway and a little later Carle Goodfellow parked his rig across the Menangle Road.
Tuesday 3rd April 1979
There was an attempt to block the Camden bridge but police moved them on. By 4.30am word came through that truckies were blocking the Western Highway at Mt. Lambie, NSW.
A mass meeting of drivers was held on the mountain at 8.00am. Ted Stevens addressed the group and called for the election of a committee. Ted was voted as speaker with Barry, Jack, Colin, Spencer and Carle voted as committee members. A list of ‘demands’ was taken from the drivers for consideration. The committee condensed the list and returned to the drivers for approval:
Equitable freight rates.
No back loading.
Raising the weight limit.
Licensing system (resale job security).
Equal pay for all drivers and a means to enforce it.
An assurance no driver will be sacked as a result of this dispute.
Abolition of road tax.
Stop all current and pending action concerning road tax breaches.
Moratorium on truck repayments.
Explore the possibility of nine payments a year so operators do not have to work for nothing after returning from compulsory industrial holidays.
Uniform weight, length and speed limits throughout the country and on the spot fines instead of kangaroo court where we are at the mercy of a magistrate hearing only one side of the story.
The media arrived on the mountain as did news that truckies were setting up blockades all over New South Wales. There was talk of the blockade going interstate and it was not long before word arrived truckies had begun blockading locations in Queensland, South Australia and Victoria. And then a telegram arrived. The Independent Truckers Association USA wished them well, the blockades now had international recognition.
Wednesday 4th April 1979
At 2am a radio newscast announced the New South Wales Parliament had passed a law enabling the police to remove trucks from the roads, fine the drivers up to $1000 and remove their licence. By 3am the assembled drivers were given notice of this new law and voted to remain on the mountain.
Premier Wran spoke to John Laws, the 2UW talkback radio host who went on to become involved in co-ordinating meetings. Premier Wran then briefed the general media. Wran said police would start ticketing trucks under the new legislation by 4 pm. On the mountain, the threat of police use of heavy towing equipment was met with a plan to let the air out of the braking systems and thus lock the trucks in position.
By early afternoon John Laws interviewed Ted Stevens who insisted the drivers wanted the politicians to come to them.
Committee members began visiting other sites to inform the blockaders of what was happening. In the days prior to mobile phones, communication was limited and miscommunication occurred, sometimes deliberately by non-supporters, until systems were put in place.
Premier Wran and Mr Peter Cox, Minister for Transport, continued to refuse to go to Razorback so John Laws flew to the mountain and persuaded the blockaders to send a six-man delegation for talks. This development appeared to render inoperative Police Superintendent Douglass' instruction to start ticketing at 4 pm.
John Laws arranged a meeting with Mr Peter Cox and Mr Pat Hill, NSW Minister for Industrial Relations at the State Office Block along with the blockade delegates. Representatives of the Long Distance Road Transport Association (LDRTA), Transport Workers Union (TWU) and Professional Transport Drivers Association (PTDA) were present.
During the meeting Premier Wran joined the group briefly. The Ministers put some offers on the table, but none were to be put in place immediately, and none addressed the major issues being protested, which made the offer unacceptable to the delegates. The New South Wales Government offered to:
1. amend the Industrial Arbitration Act, to allow owner-drivers to appear before the State Industrial Commission and thus seek minimum standard freight rates and to meet the costs of a Queen's Counsel to appear for the truck owners before the Commission
2. attempt to arrange a moratorium on moves by finance companies to repossess vehicles, if repayments fell behind in the period before the expected report on the New South Wales road freight industry by Commissioner McDonell, was acted upon. These offers were rejected by the owner-drivers.
The Ministers suggested a further meeting the following day with representatives of the major freight forwarder companies and TWU to be present. The delegates agreed provided union members listened only and did not participate.
It was announced on the evening news that Queensland Premier Joh-Bjelke Petersen had abolished the road-tax immediately and unconditionally in his state, the same day as blockades had begun in the south-east of the state. Hope grew that other states would soon follow behind.
John Laws sent the band Saltbush up to the mountain for some relief for the drivers and their supporters.
Thursday 5th April 1979
Delegates attended a meeting accompanied by John Laws. The meeting was with NSW Minister for Transport Mr Peter Cox, TWU State Secretary Harry Quinn and TWU organiser John McLane. Representatives of major freight forwarding companies also attended. Discussions ceased when TWU representatives insisted on speaking on behalf of drivers. The delegates walked out after reiterating that they were representing the drivers from the blockades.
More meetings were held on the mountain and it was decided legal representation should be enlisted. Mr David Galbally, son of prominent Victorian Queen’s Council, Mr Frank Galbally agreed to represent the truck drivers pro bono.
Frustration was growing as Federal Minister for Transport Mr Nixon had called on all states to drop the road taxes, but states refused. There was increasing concern that police would be forced to dissolve the blockade which could have become a very difficult and dangerous situation as emotions were so high.
Hours were spent around campfires swapping tales, not just of the fun times on the road but often of the difficult times such as being first on scene at a motor vehicle accident.
Friday 6th April 1979
Times were never quiet on the mountain, however Friday brought less meetings with officials than previous days. Delegates took the opportunity to travel to Camden and Picton to make phone calls or to answer the continual flow of calls from blockades all over the country.
Jack Hibbert and Ted Stevens went to Yass as there were rumours of unrest. The rumours were unfounded but were believed to be a tactic to cause tension amongst blockaders. That evening Yass sent a delegate to the mountain as a direct line of communication between Razorback and Yass.
John Laws once again sent Saltbush up to entertain the drivers and visitors to the mountain.
At 10pm news arrived that men had attempted to block Cooks River Railway yard. One trailer had been parked across the gateway and then quickly removed by police using a heavy duty forklift. Other truckies tried to park their rigs in place and a police officer attempted to put his car in the way. Reports were that there was significant damage to the police car. The delegates were concerned about this news as it was always their intent to hold a peaceful demonstration. As time went on this became harder to achieve.
Saturday 7th 1979
The delegates knew there was a meeting of State Ministers in Victoria to which they never received an invitation. The ministers agreed to drop the road tax but not until 1st of July. This was unacceptable as drivers were already unable to pay the tax and could potentially be jailed for fines incurred over the next three months.
Drivers were still frustrated as there had been no mention of addressing the problem of freight rates, so they knew there was still a long way to go.
The public poured in on the Saturday: offering support, food and showing a genuine interest in understanding the drivers’ plight. Everyone was more relaxed with a cricket game held between the police officers and drivers at the bottom of the mountain.
It was a quiet night on the mountain, once again drivers sat and shared stories around campfires with some delegates heading off the mountain to deal with phone calls and visit other blockades.
Sunday 8th April 1979
In the early hours of Sunday morning Police informed Ted that Premier Wran wanted to meet at Camden Airport. The assembled drivers were angry about going to Wran rather than him coming to them, but they voted in favour of their delegates attending.
Premier Wran promised to make many of the changes requested but as he was unwilling to put them in writing, the meeting was adjourned. The delegates returned to the mountain informing the blockaders that nothing had been achieved and they would reconvene with the premier at 8am the following morning.
Monday 9th April 1979
After midnight Ted was driven to several blockades. Drivers at Prospect Road had been told the dispute was over and were packing up. This misinformation was received at several locations. In the early hours Ted became aware that the media could not locate Premier Wran. The media believed Wran was at a meeting in Victoria with State Premiers. Naturally this caused great concern for Ted as their meeting was scheduled for 8.00am.
At 10.00am truckies were listening to their radios when a news report confirmed that blockades in Victoria, South Australia and Queensland were finishing as they had accepted offers put to them by their governments.
There was huge disappointment amongst men on the mountain that other states had settled prior to equitable freight rates being won and before uniform weights and dimensions had been achieved. It was time for another meeting of drivers on the mountain. Delegates from various blockades around New South Wales were already on site but the meeting was postponed until further delegates could arrive. A vote was taken; drivers strongly supported staying to gain what Premier Wran had offered the previous day.
The delegates met with David Galbally and discussed tactics before meeting Premier Wran at 7pm. Between the two meetings, the very distressing news arrived of the death of Brian Hall due to a car accident on the mountain. “He’d been with us from the very first meeting, a company driver who risked his job to back us,” a distressed Ted later wrote.
After a two and a half hour meeting the premier committed to giving the blockaders what the other states had achieved as well as another inquiry into freight rates. This was less than they had been promised the previous day. Premier Wran said the offer would be honoured only if trucks were moving by noon the next day.
Tuesday 10th April 1979
At 2 am delegates returned to Razorback. A meeting with drivers was called for 6am. For the first time a vote was taken in two groups: company drivers in one group, owner drivers in another. Some drivers wanted to go, but the majority wanted to stay. So, the blockade continued.
David Galbally arrived on the mountain to conduct a meeting with all those present. Delegates from Sydney as well as Yass, Albury, Boggabilla, the Queensland border and Bathurst were in attendance as well as hundreds of men from the mountain. David Galbally spoke to the group explaining some items on their list were certainly federal issues and if they took the NSW government to court, they’d likely loose. There was one more meeting planned with Premier Wran and it would be the final chance to gain any further wins.
The meeting between the delegates, David and Frank Galbally and the premier lasted approximately 20 minutes. Nothing more was gained. Frank Galbally went to Parliament House for a private meeting with the Premier but again nothing was gained and still they had nothing in writing. The deadline Premier Wran had put in place had now passed.
Wednesday 11th April 1979
Men were informed that no further concessions had been won and were asked to vote if they wanted to accept the offer and leave, or stay and fight for further concessions. Drivers were told regardless of the outcome of the vote it was essential no trucks moved until the Premier’s offer was made public.
Both groups, owner drivers and company drivers, voted to return to work. Premier Neville Wran announced via John Laws’ radio program the regulations he had agreed to change. Just after lunch on the 10th day Ted announced to the drivers …. ‘We’re going back to work’.
There were mixed feelings on the mountain. Many were happy with what was achieved, others frustrated that they had been close to getting so much more.
Ted later reflected, ‘We’d changed the rules, we’d got rid of road tax, there would be no jail, we got extra two tonne loading, the public was aware of our humanity, we would no longer be considered just truck drivers. We’d showed the world you don’t have to just cop whatever a government felt like doing at the time.’