Labor and the unions are warning against the Turnbull government's pledge to abolish the Road Safety Remuneration Tribunal if it's re-elected..
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull wants to save small trucking businesses by abolishing a road safety watchdog, but Labor warns it could end up threatening all road users.
Mr Turnbull has promised the coalition government will dump the Road Safety Remuneration Tribunal if it's re-elected, with $4 million in funding redirected to the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator.
The decision follows anger at new minimum pay rates - set by the tribunal - for owner truck drivers that they fear will drive them out of business.
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten, who established the tribunal when Labor was last in office, warned there was a proven link between low rates of pay and poor safety.
"If you're trying to pay the bills, trying to pay the mortgage, put the food on the table for the family and you've got unsafe rates of pay then something's got to give," he told reporters in Melbourne.
"We don't want that to be the safety of Australia's road users."
Transport Workers' Union national secretary Tony Sheldon echoed his concerns.
