A re-elected Turnbull government will abolish the tribunal that sets pay rates for truck drivers because, the prime minister says, there is no link between road safety and remuneration.

The decision follows two reviews of the Road Safety Remuneration Tribunal [RSRT], which was introduced by the Gillard government in 2012, and both recommended the system be abolished.

"It undermines owner operators, it undermines small-business, it undermines family businesses,": Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. Credit:Janie Barrett

The decision to scrap the RSRT is another sign the government is looking to fight Labor in the 2016 election campaign over workplace policy and industrial lawlessness, with a double dissolution election in prospect if the senate votes against re-establishing the Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC).

PriceWaterhouseCoopers' review said the RSRT should be reformed and that the "abolition of the system would result in significant net benefit to the economy and community at large".