ROLLED OVER
CRITICISING the Country Women’s Association is the moral equivalent of stealing from your grandmother’s purse.
You just don’t do it.
We can cut the CWA all the slack it wants when it comes to its support for roll bars on quad bikes, but not the National Farmers Federation and politicians. In case you didn’t know, quad bikes will be out of the equation next year when the Australian Competition &
Consumer Commission’s law banning their sale, unless fitted with roll bars, comes into effect.
The ACCC’S roll bar mandate, which comes partly into effect this year and hits with full impact in October 2021, has sparked panic buying for these valued mustering tools. Doubling down on this sales rush is the immediate 100 per cent tax write-off on assets, part of the federal government’s stimulus package. This has created a buying spree, not just on quads, but on just about every piece of farm and station machinery you can name.
Talk to anyone out on a station right now and they’ll tell you that if you are chasing a quad bike, a
Honda 250 motorbike, a small generator or a Toyota V8 Landcruiser ute, be prepared to get in a queue. COVID-19 has disrupted worldwide factory production schedules. The bushfires soaked up generator supplies when power grids collapsed.
If there is one item that stands head and shoulders above all others in the short-supply department, it is quad bikes. These machines are essential tools on northern Australian cattle stations where they have replaced the horse as the primary mustering tool.
Australia accounts for about 1 per cent of global quad bike sales. Meanwhile, in other countries around the globe where 99 per cent of quad bike sales are made, not one single government is insisting roll bars be fitted. This is why manufacturers like Honda, Yamaha, Kawasaki, Suzuki and Polaris are simply quitting the quad bike market Down Under. The market share Australia offers is not worth the effort of factory fitting roll bars. In any case, Honda and other manufacturers do not agree with the implied safety principle behind the ACCC’S and government’s move to enshrine roll bars in law. Since 2001 250 people have been killed in quad bike accidents in Australia. Honda’s research shows there is 50-50 chance that the bars will kill or injure an operator in a rollover.
Last orders
THIS week I spoke to Robert Toscano, the outgoing managing director of Honda Australia, and Tony Hinton, general manager, motorcycles, at Honda Australia, about the roll bar law and its impact on their business. Right now, business is booming, but it could be argued it isn’t for all the right reasons. It is booming – up by more than 50 per cent – largely because people are panic buying. It’s a case of get in now or miss out. As of October next year you won’t be able to buy a quad bike in Australia that has not been fitted with rollover protective equipment. Manufacturers don’t see the need for it and have called the bluff of both the ACCC and the government and are walking. Both Mr Toscano and Mr Hinton said they expect the last Honda quad bikes will be sold in Australia by the end of the 2020-21 financial year. After that they will not be bringing any more into the country. Primary producers not wanting to be left high and dry are scrambling. Some have placed bulk orders, stocking up so they have quads for at least some years to come. Once new machines are not available, the existing models brought into use before October next year will be rebuilt and rebuilt.
Battlers deserted
QUAD bike operators across northern Australia reject suggestions that they fit aftermarket roll bars. The make the point that if they do this they may as well buy a UTV (utility terrain vehicle) otherwise known as a side-by-side or a buggy. These are equipped with rollover protection, seatbelts and doors. Cattlemen say these have their uses, but are not suited for work in forested country and extremely rough terrain.
This is how important the quads are to their business operations. But, for some reason, politicians and, as I said before, even the Country Women’s Association aren’t on board when it comes to helping men and women on the land in their fight against the roll bar laws. And another entity not on board with farmers and graziers on this issue is the peak industry group, the National Farmers Federation. The NFF is supporting the ACCC instead of the battlers out in the bush chasing cattle up and down gullies and through the scrub.
Danger lurks
PRAIRIE district cattleman Bill Bode ( pictured top right) is angry about the roll bar ruling and the failure of politicians and industry organisations to fight on the behalf of primary producers. He thinks the humble horse might make a comeback on some stations. The reason being that the other alternative – two-wheeled bikes – are just too dangerous in rough and broken country. Putting roll bars on quad bikes reduces their maneuverability in timbered country. “A tree branch catches on the bar and spins it over backwards. You won’t be able to work them in timber,” he said.
“The horse is a bit safer, but he