Tony Zappia (Makin, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Manufacturing) Share this | Hansard source

I join the member for Throsby in raising the MV Portland matter. This week Australian seafarers stood on the lawns of Parliament House drawing attention to the disgraceful act by Alcoa whereby five Australian crew members aboard the Alcoa-owned vessel the MV Portland were woken up in the middle of the night, at one o'clock, by up to 30 security guards and forced off the vessel. They were then replaced by a foreign crew.

The MV Portland was carting alumina within Australian waters between Western Australia and Victoria. The Turnbull government has now issued Alcoa a temporary licence, which enables Alcoa to circumvent the law and use a foreign-flagged vessel with a foreign crew to operate in Australia waters. The Turnbull government has facilitated Australian jobs being taken away from Australian crew members and given to foreign crews. Just as disgracefully, the Turnbull government has done that without any surety that those foreign crews are competent, are not being exploited and are working under safe conditions.

The Prime Minister likes to quote the golden rule, as he refers to it: 'Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.' I ask the Prime Minister: does the treatment of those five Australian crew members fit your golden rule? What do you say to the Australian crew members, and their families, who have had their jobs taken by foreign workers? Prime Minister, is this the way you would like to be treated or see any of your family members treated? Prime Minister, stop destroying the Australian shipping industry and selling out Australian jobs.

See this speech in context