Gratuitous ‘voting’ process cripples PBS

Something about the PBS approval process doesn’t sit well with me and must be changed immediately. Under the rules, a qualified engineer who is accredited as a PBS Assessor uses specialised software to determine that a heavy vehicle meets the standards. If it does, they submit an application to the NHVR. The NHVR then submits the application to the independently chaired PBS Review Panel, consisting of representatives of each state and territory road authority plus the Commonwealth, so that the Panel can “vote” on whether the application meets the standards. Now correct me if I’m wrong, but an application either meets the standards or it doesn’t. Therefore if some of the Panel members vote “Yes” and some vote “No” isn’t one group wrong? I can understand the need to use the Panel as a reference group to help resolve issues and to advise on unusual PBS applications, but surely the NHVR has the skills to promptly approve most applications, and get advice from the Panel on a few of the difficult ones.

“…surely the NHVR has the skills to promptly approve most applications, and get advice from the Panel on a few of the difficult ones.”

I am especially frustrated at present because the Panel is blatantly not meeting its statutory timeframes for voting, pushing approvals out to nearly two months, and this is costing some companies thousands of dollars a week in interest payments and lost earning potential, all for sticking to a bureaucratic process that is clearly past its use-by date.