Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party, Leader of the Nationals) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Grayndler, the shadow minister for transport and infrastructure, for his comments. I just wanted to assure him that the departure of vessels has occurred under Labor's process. During debate on this particular bill, my colleague the member for Grey provided the House with details on the decline of Australian flagged vessels. He informed the House that, in 2012, the then Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, when introducing legislation for the current act, said it was designed to ensure the Australian shipping industry survived. In 2012, there were 30 ships; now, in 2018, there are just 13. That reduction was under the act that the member for Grayndler said would protect Australian shipping. Combined with this, many ageing Australian vessels are not being replaced. The average age of the registered fleet, all 13 of them, is 24 years, up from 23 last year. The oldest vessel is 26 years old in comparison to the average age of 13 years for international vessels. We have an ageing fleet.

The bill maintains the current requirements for Australian flagged vessels to be consulted and bid for work before a temporary licence voyage is undertaken. It doesn't impose any additional or onerous requirements on Australian flagged vessels. It's important to note that these reforms will not take away any of the protections provided to Australian flagged vessels operating under general licences. Australian licensed vessels will still have unrestricted access to the Australian coast and the opportunity to contest voyages applied for by foreign ships. They will continue to access shipping tax incentives, including the ability to claim income tax exemptions for qualifying shipping activities. As I stated in my summing up speech, there will be accelerated depreciation for certain owners of vessels and rollover relief for eligible Australian shipowners. All of the departures and reflaggings which have occurred since this act came into force have taken place under the regime that the Australian Labor Party established. This government has made no changes to that regime and has issued no directions to the department on how to administer the legislation.

I want to tell the House that Australian seafarer jobs have been declining and will likely continue to decline under the current framework. However, the reforms in the bill will create the potential for more onshore jobs to offset those continued seafarer job losses by making coastal shipping a more attractive and more affordable transport alternative. Input costs for the manufacturing industry will be reduced. This should support job growth in this sector. By bringing the movement of liquid fuel products from offshore facilities under the coastal trading act, refineries could become more competitive, allowing for job growth in this sector. There is also potential for, as I stated before, Australia's dry-docking industry to grow.

The amendments in this bill—the original reforms—will make no change to the pay and conditions of seafarers, and that is important to note. The reforms do not alter the workforce entitlements of Australian seafarers, to whom part A of the Seagoing Industry Award 2010, the modern award, will continue to apply. Nor do they alter the coverage of foreign seafarers. For seafarers on foreign flagged vessels, the wages and conditions currently set out in part B of the Seagoing Industry Award 2010 will continue to apply from the third voyage of their ship onwards in Australian waters over a 12-month period. By recording the IMO number of vessels being used, additional information will be available to determine when those entitlements are payable. This is good reform. We've talked about it for long enough and it's time for this reform to take place.

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