The widow of a South Australian truck driver killed in a horrific triple-fatality outback crash is fighting for her state’s overseas licence reforms to be adopted nationwide.
Delphine Mugridge started campaigning after her 77-year-old husband Neville “Slim” Mugridge died in a head-on collision on the Eyre Highway near Yatala in April, 2024. The other truck driver was named as Yadwindeer Singh Bhatti, 45, whose unidentified 25-year-old passenger from NSW was also killed.
Following the crash she called for reforms that were eventually adopted in South Australia and came into effect in February last year requiring drivers to undertake a Multi-Combination (MC) Licence Program to drive heavy vehicles, with overseas driving experience, except from New Zealand, no longer recognised.
In an ongoing petition that has been signed by more than 23,000 Australians, Ms Mugridge called for a series of timeframe changes she said would “ensure that overseas drivers can no longer enter Australia and obtain heavy vehicle licences” without years of experience driving lighter vehicles.
Ms Mugridge, who has since moved to Queensland, then turned her attention to other states, but said last month she was growing frustrated by the lack of progress.
“At times it feels like I have landed on deaf ears from other states of Australia. I have waited long enough for their replies after their budgets and have decided to contact Pauline Hanson for her assistance,” she said in an update.
“The Bruce Highway is fast becoming another Eyre Highway with many deaths occurring over the past 12 months. I had spoken to a representative from Minister of Transport in Queensland in his Buderim office back in June and was told the matter would be looked into and after their budget decisions could be made.”
She also shared responses to letter sent to the Queensland, NSW, Victorian transport ministers promising to investigate the issue.
Other truck drivers are also calling for action, with one posting an impassioned plea on social media on December 27 calling for “common sense reforms” after driving past the spot where Mr Mugridge died.
“Thousands of us drive past roadside shrines every single day. Our job shouldn’t be a drive through a graveyard, but that’s what it’s become,” he said.
Australian Trucking Association CEO Mathew Munro said in October following a roundtable of “multicultural drivers” that all states should adopt the South Australian system.
He said the immigrant drivers supported overseas licencing credentials higher than a car licence not being recognised, and had raised issues including ” vile abuse on UHF radio and social media harassment”.
As a result of the feedback we received from the roundtable, the ATA is urging every state to adopt South Australia’s MC Licence Program,” Mr Munro said.
“Drivers undertaking the program need to complete 50 or 60 logged hours of supervised driving with learning components, followed by a practical driving assessment in an MC vehicle.
“Additionally, South Australia no longer recognises overseas truck driving experience toward obtaining an MC licence, except for drivers from New Zealand.”
The calls come amid growing concern about overseas drivers, mainly from India, causing chaos on Australian roads, and after hundreds of Indian drivers had their licences revoked in New Zealand amid a crackdown on false or altered documentation used during overseas permit conversions.
Header image: Neville “Slim” Mugridge (GoFundMe).
