In Dubbo yesterday to launch her party’s Sustainable Transport Plan Senate candidate Lee Rhiannon said the Gillard Government “must end special treatment for the trucking industry”.

“Hidden subsidies to road transport are putting more trucks including more B-Doubles on our roads,” she said.

“Rail freight is more efficient.

“The Gillard Government needs to end the special treatment that the trucking industry receives.”

Under the plan The Greens would axe the subsidised registration of B-Double trucks.

Ms Rhiannon agreed it would push costs up for truck drivers but she said it would also create “huge job opportunities” for the region.

Asked how freight could be enticed back on to rail she said the Government needed to put “more assistance into rail both in terms of the services provided but also the upgrading of the track”.

“Our rail services is back in the 1800s in many places and we need to make it efficient, reliable, cost effective, then you get that change over,” she said.

According to Ms Rhiannon, rail freight was “having a boom around the world ... (but) Australia is just lagging so far behind”.

Ms Rhiannon said she was encouraged by Roger Fletcher’s construction of his own rail line.

“The work that he has done shows that business will welcome this when it’s run properly and the governments are quite capable of doing this,” she said.

Mark Coulton said he also supported a greater role for rail freight.

“Part of our policy is the inland rail,” he said. “And introducing for funding back into rail, and it was something I identified in my maiden speech.”

Labor candidate for Parkes Andrew Brooks did not return calls to the Daily Liberal.