Matt Thistlethwaite (Kingsford Smith, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Treasury) Share this | Hansard source

The Coastal Trading (Revitalising Australian Shipping) Amendment Bill 2017 is the Turnbull government's second attempt to wind back federal Labor's 2012 coastal trading reforms. Those reforms were introduced after a time, under the Howard government, when coastal shipping had basically been destroyed in this country. The number of ships and companies that were operating on the Australian coastline, carrying goods and providing jobs for workers, had been smashed by the Howard government. Who could ever forget, unfortunately, that this year is the 20th anniversary of the Maritime Union strike on the wharves, where the Howard government acted illegally?

The Howard government broke the law in Australia—as determined by the High Court in a 6-1 judgement—when they illegally locked out a complete workforce and conspired with a large Australian corporation, Patrick Stevedores, to bring the military onto the docks and take those workers' jobs. We all remember the footage of the dogs, the alsatians, and the locked gates and the military-style operation that was undertaken. That was all illegal. The Howard government broke the law regarding the Australian workforce on the docks in the 1990s. And that's been their approach to coastal shipping and to this issue since then.

The Liberals don't believe in protecting Australian workers' jobs in the maritime industry. They want to allow what they call flag-of-convenience ships—operators from countries that don't have the same safety standards as Australia does and that don't have the same wages and conditions for workers as Australia does—to operate on the Australian coastline and take Australian workers' jobs. This mob specialise in ruining Australian workers' lifestyles and jobs, and that's what they want to do with the passage of this particular bill here in this place. They call it the 'revitalising Australian shipping' amendment—wonderful Orwellian language for the title of a bill, because it does the exact opposite. It will actually destroy Australia's shipping industry and destroy those hard-fought-for jobs that provide decent incomes for people working under what are generally dangerous conditions.

According to the explanatory memorandum, the bill's aims are to simplify coastal trading regulation, reduce the administrative impost associated with the current regime, expand the coverage of the Coastal Trading Act and provide clarity on a number of minor technical matters. Compared with the extensive consultation process that was undertaken prior to the introduction of the reforms Labor introduced in 2012, the consultation associated with the preparation of this bill has been, basically, non-existent. That is why it is opposed by everyone who works in this industry. Of course, the bill will only accelerate the industry's decline, eventually consigning Australia's status as a once-proud maritime nation to the history pages.

It is a shocking result, but, coming from this government, it's something that we really shouldn't be shocked about at all. We've seen what this government are about when it comes to workers and their incomes—supporting the cutting of penalty rates for working on weekends in the hospitality and restaurant industries. They've supported changes to workplace relations laws that made it harder for workers to bargain in their workplaces to get a decent standard of living, wages and conditions. They've removed the obligation on employers to continue bargaining with employees when they can't reach agreement, and that now allows employers to basically put people back onto award wages and remove an enterprise agreement that operates in a particular workplace.

That's why we've seen a dramatic reduction in the number of enterprise agreements that are negotiated in Australian workplaces at the current time, and it's one of the factors that's contributing to the very low wages growth that we've seen in this country over the past six years, which is deeply affecting household incomes in Australia, and it is putting enormous pressure on the cost of living for many Australian households. That's why they feel they're being left behind by this government when it comes to soaring electricity prices and increasing costs associated with education. Private health insurance goes up by whopping amounts every year. General insurance is always going up, but wages aren't going up. In fact, real wages are going backwards, and this government is cheering on from the sidelines with cuts to penalty rates and changes to workplace relations laws.

If this bill were to pass the parliament it would undermine the integrity of the entire coastal trading regime that was put in place by the former, Labor, government. There are two sets of amendments that are particularly problematic. The changes would further deregulate what's already one of the world's most liberal coastal trading regimes. The proposed amendments would make it almost impossible for Australian GL vessels, Australian flagged vessels, to contest work, because their owner-operator would never know the actual volume or precise loading date. In responding to the discussion paper about the introduction of this bill, the Australian Institute of Marine and Power Engineers said in its submission:

The ultimate voyage carried out may bear no resemblance to the original voyage for which the Temporary Licence was granted. AIMPE opposes this proposal.Maritime Industry Australia Ltd said that without the tolerances being meaningful—and remembering that these were expanded by the 2012 reforms from 10 per cent and three days to 20 per cent and five days—the system may as well be 'deregulated entirely'.

That view is echoed by the Maritime Union of Australia:

The MUA is strongly opposed to the proposed amendment. Such open-ended tolerance provisions would totally undermine accepted commercial arrangements and make it impossible for a GL holder to contest a cargo, as the GL holder would not know what they are contesting. The ability to position a ship when the loading date could vary by up to 30 days would be commercially untenable for a GL holder, as would be the unknown nature of the cargo volume.

Operators of vessels involved in the coastal trade, including CSL, which currently runs Australian flagged vessels around the coastline, employing Australians, have also expressed their concerns about the changes to tolerance limits. This is the point: they can't even get the employers onside with what they're doing here. The employers oppose it. They say that the current date tolerance regime seems reasonable.

Currently, there are two types of licence variations to an existing TL: authorised matters—a change to a loading date or volume and an existing planned voyage—and new matters, authorising an entirely new voyage on an existing TL. In the name of streamlining, as this government calls it, the bill proposes replacing the two types of licence variations with a single TL variation provision. However, reclassifying the addition of a new voyage to an existing TL from a new matter to an authorised matter would halve, from the current two days to just 24 hours, the time available for a GL holder to apply for that new voyage. Put simply, it would make it more difficult for Australian vessels and owner-operators to compete for work.

The major peak body that represents Australian owned shipping operators and other Australian based maritime businesses, Maritime Industry Australia Limited, says:

Any new voyage should be subject to the existing timeframes for GL holders to respond or else the integrity of the system is undermined as GL holders rights/opportunities are reduced.

Another submission stated:

This unreasonable competitive advantage arises as the proposed amendments allow foreign shippers to compete in the domestic freight market against land freight transport operators that have to comply with all laws and regulations. In particular, exemptions would allow foreign ships to incur substantially lower wages, conditions and associated workplace relations costs when compared to rail, road and Australian-based coastal shipping companies.

That is the voice of the industry. They are saying that they have concerns about what the government is doing here.

Labor is not prepared to co-sign the death warrant of the proud Australian maritime industry, but that's exactly what we will do if this bill is passed by the parliament. Labor is not prepared to see Australian workers put out of jobs. We are not prepared to see Australian businesses, many of which have been around for centuries and have served the coastline of Australia in a very safe and dignified manner, providing jobs for Australians, put out of business.

The bottom line is that there is a very real difference between the two sides of politics when it comes to shipping in this country. The coalition doesn't believe that Australia needs a viable, competitive and growing domestic industry. The Labor Party does and we will be taking a set of policies to the next election that will help rebuild Australian shipping and ensure that it is viable into the future. Simply put, we want more Australian seafarers and to see more of them crewing Australian flagged ships carrying more Australian goods around the Australian coastline. Our long-term national interest demands nothing less. What the government is attempting to do here is completely undermine that goal and that ambition for Australian shipping by allowing in foreign flagged vessels—vessels that come from places like the Philippines and countries in South America that are known as flag-of-convenience vessels—that specialise in going around the world and undercutting conditions that exist, through regulations, in domestic markets.

Australia is an island nation. We rely on sea transport to get goods in and out of our country. The health of our economy relies on a strong maritime industry. It has been one of the staples of this country's economic development over the last couple of centuries, yet this government is willing to undermine that by allowing foreign operators, non-Australian vessels, to bring foreign crews onto the Australian coastline, putting Australians out of work—all in the name of deregulation and cutting costs—and undercutting the costs of Australian shipping providers and workers. Well, Labor won't allow it, and that's why an amendment has been moved by the shadow minister for transport. It's a very sensible amendment, and I urge all members of the House to support that amendment and reject this ridiculous notion, which has been put forward by the Liberal government, that will undermine the Australian shipping industry.

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