By Jamie Salter
A delay in the introduction of a new Federal Government Bill will threaten Pakenham’s many RV dealers and the safety of thousands of road users, according to the Caravan Industry Association of Australia (CIAA).
The Road Vehicle Standards (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Amendment Bill 2022 (RVSA) is set to be introduced into Federal Parliament this week, pushing back the deadline for industries to comply with the legislation from July 1, 2022 to July 1, 2023.
The extension has pressed pause on a stronger framework and increased risk of penalties which will come with the introduction of the RVSA.
CIAA chief executive Stuart Lamont said the new Bill will allow an array of under-priced and poor quality trailers to flood the Australian market over the next year.
“There’s currently no oversight for the caravanning industry and we’ve been pushing to have the same system as cars and trucks,“ Mr Lamont said.
“Our industry is clearly frustrated that the current proposed Bill is set to extend transitional provisions by potentially another twelve months despite previous assurances from both sides of Government that 1 July 2022 was a hard date for implementation.
“The pathway to registering a new vehicle (or low ATM trailer) on an Australian road should have some rigour attached to it, and genuine businesses in the caravanning industry have proactively worked to be ready in time for 1 July 2022 to meet the proposed requirements under a type approval system.“
Mr Lamont said international markets were taking advantage of the popularity of caravanning post Covid-19, competing with Pakenham dealers.
“There will be tens of thousand of products coming in from China of over the next 12 months and they have no understanding of what the rules are on how to construct these caravans to safety standards required here,“ he said.
“Pakenham’s Goldstream and Avan dealers have invested a lot of time and money to meet the deadline and it’s another 12 months they have to compete with a cheaper and inferior products, and one less sale.“
Mr Lamont is urging the Federal Government to stick to the existing timetable of the RVSA.
“The clock is ticking and despite all of the distractions and deadlines of this Federal Parliamentary week, this should not stop the government from identifying a more practical and creative solution for the caravanning and camping industry, than a simple and lazy blanket extension to legislation so they can sort further stuff out later on.“
