Karl Petry campaign gets results

SA Labor MP Robyn Geraghty accepts a petition from Darryn Petry,March 7, 2005, ITF Rail Safety Day.

Review of Hirail vehicles

In February, the Australasian Railways Association agreed to work with the RTBU to respond to the death of Karl Petry by developing a Code of Practice for Hirail vehicles. The RTBU will be represented at the workshop on this project in late May by Ashley Waddell.

Rail Safety Act

The RTBU has also been pressing the South Australian government for a major review of its Rail Safety Act, because of a string of serious rail accidents, including the derail north of Port Augusta of Karl Petry's hirail vehicle.

The South Australian government has responded to this demand behind the scenes with urgent calls to their Victorian counterparts, who are developing Australia's most advanced rail safety act. However, the National Transport Commission is also racing the Victorians, and a national model rail safety act will be ready for adoption within six months.

It appears that South Australia's government has shifted its focus to the national model, and that the state law could well be one of the first one's to implement it.

New Transport Minister

The South Australian Transport Minister, Trish White, was stood down from the Ministry on March 17, 2005 and Patrick Conlon became Transport Minister on March 23, adding to his role as Infrastructure Minister.

Thirty rail workers and the family members held a rally in Adelaide on March 7, 2005, as part of the International Railway Workers Action Day for Safety First! They tried to present a petition to Transport Minister Trish White to demand that the South Australian government urgently tighten rail safety laws to save lives. The Minister's office is directly opposite Adelaide Railway Station. Labor backbencher Robyn Geraghty accepted the petition instead.

The event included a poignant plea from Darryn Petry, the son of Karl. Darryn travelled from Brisbane for the event.

"Nothing can bring my father back. But action now may be able to spare other families the pain and suffering we've endured," Mr Petry said. "My family also wants, in fact needs some answers, so that we can begin to come to terms with what happened, and get on with our lives".

The Karl Petry death and the loss of legs by an Adelaide shunter in February 2005 have painfully exposed South Australia for having among the weakest, most ineffective and low-resourced rail safety regulators in the country.

RTBU South Australian / NT secretary Ray Hancox said there is no convincing reason why the state government should delay changes. "We need a complete overhaul of rail safety laws and real resources for a real rail safety regulator, to both tighten safety standards so that companies don't continue to put workers at risk, and to ensure that any incidents are independently investigated and where appropriate, prosecuted," said Ray Hancox. "South Australia has often led progressive change in Australia, and it has to do this now on rail safety".

The Karl Petry campaign has been a national focus for the Rail Tram & Bus Union. "We want action now in South Australia, because we can't wait any longer, and to help ensure that there is a breakthrough for a real rail safety system in Australia's railways at the National Transport Commission," RTBU Acting National Secretary Bob Hayden said.