DESPITE Council’s best efforts to manage the ‘Convoy of No Confidence’ as it passes through Goulburn on Sunday, it’s likely that the truckie revolt cannot be controlled.
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What started out as a transport industry protest against the carbon tax has spiralled into a broad, seething mass of anti-federal government anger, set to roll down the Hume Highway and explode onto the lawns of Parliament House in Canberra on Monday morning.
No one can say how many people and vehicles will join the convoy, because nobody actually knows. It’s an open-invitation protest against the Gillard Labor Government, and people are signing up in droves.
“It’s going to be big,” NRFA Treasurer and convoy coordinator Peter Whytcross told the Post.
“We just don’t know what’s going to happen when we get to Canberra on Monday morning.” The convoy has been initiated by the National Road Freighters Association (NRFA) - a transport industry lobby group made up of trucking business owners across the country- but the convoy has grown to include other industries and individuals who share the NRFA’s view of the current federal government.
Mr Whytcross said the purpose of the convoy was to force a new election of both houses of federal parliament.
“We’re calling on the Government to dissolve both houses of parliament and call an election, so we can elect a government with a mandate to govern in their own right and not be beholden to minor party interests like the Greens and the Independents.
“We want to bring democracy back. The preferential voting system is flawed when it results in a hung parliament making kneejerk decisions without the consent of the people,” he said.
And the range of businesses and industries lending their support to the convoy is growing.
“We’ve got the mining industry (participating), plus a whole range of small business (owners) from across the board: everything from hairdressers to boilermakers. The list goes on. Everybody’s getting onboard; they’re all flying the flag,” Mr Whytcross said.
The ‘Convoy of No Confidence’ is broken into 11 smaller convoys all converging on Canberra from different parts of the country. Some participants will be staying in and around Goulburn on Sunday night, before departing for Canberra at 5am on Monday morning, and Council is working with the RTA and Goulburn Local Area Command (LAC) to ensure a smooth passage past Goulburn.
Goulburn LAC will have its full complement of police officers rostered on as the convoy passes through, with 30 cars assigned to the task and more available from NSW Police Southern Unit if needed.
Senior Sergeant Alan McCulloch told the Post that police would be keeping a close eye on proceedings.
“All we really need to do is watch it. It should be pretty smooth, but you’ve always got to be on the ball in case there’s a rogue protest- a protest within a protest. “In a group that size there’s always one,” he said.
Most of the trucks stopping overnight will stay around Truckstop 31 near Marulan, due to space limitations of parking in Goulburn.
The Post put in calls to Divall’s transport division, Deegans Transport and Granger’s Freight Lines on Monday to see if any local truckies had signed up for the convoy. All three organisations said no one had signed up so far, but said that may change over the coming days.
As one truckie at Deegans said, “the way it’s looking at the moment, you wouldn’t get anywhere near parliament house. You’d end up parked somewhere around Lake George.”
