HUNDREDS of trucks from as far away as Western Australia arrived in Canberra last night for a "convoy of no confidence'' in the Gillard Government.

The truckers in 11 convoys are demanding a new election and protesting about the Government's approach to live animal exports, the carbon tax, mining tax, gay marriage and road laws.



Some have complained about Finance Minister Penny Wong and her lesbian partner having a baby.

Julia Gillard's office said the Prime Minister had no plans to meet the protesters at this stage.

Mr Abbott climbed aboard one of the trucks in a convoy of 20 to 30 vehicles for the last leg of the journey into the nation's capital.

"They are very decent, salt of the earth Australians who feel that they've been ripped off by a bad government,'' he said.

Mr Abbott said the truck has a "no carbon tax'' sign on its front and the drivers were "blue collar battlers'' spending $500 of their own money on fuel for the drive to Canberra.

Mr Abbott said Ms Gillard should meet the truck drivers, saying former PM John Howard had met footballer Michael Long on his walk from Melbourne even though he wasn't a fan of the PM.

"She seems to think that if you don't agree with her you're some kind of extremist and I just think that' dead wrong,'' Mr Abbott said.

Some major trucking groups have distanced themselves from the protest which is being led by National Road Freight Association president Mick Pattel.

Mr Pattel was preselected as a Liberal-National candidate for Mount Isa for next year's Queensland state election but stepped aside after facing pressure for some radical views.



He said climate change was a international conspiracy to force a "new World order''.

Treasurer Wayne Swan said the truck drivers were "free to express their opinions in any way they like as long as they do it lawfully''.

Greens leader Bob Brown said the truck drivers had a right to protest but they seemed to be short-sighted.

"It seems like the prime qualification to be there is to be angry about something - these are Abbott's angry people,'' he said.

A group supporting the carbon tax plans to stage a rival protest on bicycles.

In the early 1990s, truck drivers blockaded Parliament House in protest about Keating Government logging policies.





Originally published as 'Convoy of no confidence' rolls into Canberra