Truckies rallied today (Friday) to protest against the proposed Fed Govt Resource Super Profits Tax (RSPT).

The CMPA (Construction Material Processors Association Inc.) Rally in Bendigo began at 11:30 am at the Prince of Wales Showgrounds, Holmes Road, Bendigo.

Drivers came from 50 and 100 klms away to attend this rally put on by the Construction Material Processors Association, meeting at the Showgrounds before going in convoy to the city centre of Bendigo in order to protest the affects this tax they perceive will have on the industry.
It was estimated that 7,000 klms were travelled by those in attendance in order to come to the rally today.

There were 1200 tyres on the road in Bendigo which was made up of 60 trucks and 6 klms of heavy capital plant.

Ron Kerr, Representative of the CMPA, said that today was a first in the industry 'It has never occurred before' he stated to a large crowd of truck drivers, media and onlookers at the meeting after the rally. He asked why wasn’t the construction materials industry excluded from the proposed tax when other industries had been. He stated that he’d been told it would be supposedly ‘going to be better for… [the construction materials industry] when he believes it will mean ‘hundreds of hours extra paperwork?’

Truckie Brad Rodger from Mansfield expressed his concern about the proposed tax as we drove down Pall Mall Bendigo.

‘It affects a wide range of people…your tyre people, the companies that supply the fuel, the canvas tarp builders who build the tarps for the trucks…people don’t realise how much this will affect people.’