Bert Van Manen (Forde, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

NEN (—) (): As I rise to speak on the Special Recreational Vessels Amendment Bill 2023, I'm pleased to see that this government has continued the important work undertaken by the coalition in this space in previous years. I remember speaking on the previous iterations of this legislation, when we first introduced it in 2019 and then when it was subsequently extended in 2021. As was the case when we introduced it in its earlier forms, the coalition support its passage through the parliament.

The purpose of this bill is to extend the application of the coalition's Special Recreational Vessels Act 2019 by a further two years to 30 June 2025. The former coalition government's act allowed foreign flagged superyachts to opt in to the regulatory regime under the Coastal Trading (Revitalising Australian Shipping) Act 2012 and apply for temporary licences enabling them to offer charter services in Australia. Prior to that act, there was no mechanism by which foreign superyachts could be offered for hire or charter services in Australian waters.

A division having been called in the House of Representatives—

Sitting suspended from 17:56 to 18:08

Before I was so rudely interrupted, I was saying that, prior to this act, there was no mechanism by which foreign superyachts' services could be offered for hire or charter in Australian waters as recreational vehicles, as they were not covered by the coastal trading act. Through this coalition legislation, the owner, charterer, master or agent of the vessel is able to apply for and obtain a special recreational vessel temporary licence for 12 months, enabling the vessel to be offered for hire or charter.

Previous iterations of this legislation have allowed us to catch up with the booming business of superyachts in our neighbourhood, whether it's in Singapore, the Pacific or even down into New Zealand. It's allowing us to compete for our fair share of the charter market, and, I suspect, the areas that benefit most from this are starting at the Gold Coast, north up the Queensland coast and right around to Broome, and probably down to Perth as well. As I said, we previously extended the sunset date for this to 30 June 2023, and now the government is extending it out to 2025.

Why are superyachts so important to the Australian economy? They're vessels that provide enormous opportunities and spend enormous amounts of money. In Australia, a superyacht is defined as a vessel of 24 metres or longer; however, internationally, they are defined as luxury vessels over 30 metres long, with a master and crew, carrying 12 guests, not including staff. The operating costs of these vessels can run into the millions of dollars. They represent an important economic opportunity for Australia, especially but not solely in my home state of Queensland. It was estimated by the Queensland government that superyacht activity has the potential to contribute more than $2 billion to the economy and support more than 5,360 full-time jobs between 2021 and 2025. Regional communities, especially in coastal areas, have experienced exceptional growth in superyacht visitation and activity. The more vessels that visit Australia, and the longer they stay, the greater and broader the economic benefits.

These economic benefits are not just felt in the regions that these vessels travel to. Important support services that benefit from the superyacht sector include maintenance, food and catering, onshore accommodation, and hospitality and tourism services. This filters into my electorate of Forde, where we're seeing an increase in apprenticeships and training required to service these new vessels and new opportunities.

Through the new $11.8 million TAFE Queensland Marine Centre of Excellence located just outside my electorate of Forde, at Coomera in the electorate of Fadden, local residents have the opportunity to take advantage of significant marine industry expansion by gaining world-class skills and training. The centre includes workshops for electrical and mechanical work, fibreglass and lamination, and marine textiles and upholstery, and an outdoor boat workshop, along with welding facilities. Jointly funded by the previous coalition government and the Queensland state government, this centre provides a whole suite of new career opportunities for those living in the southern part of my electorate and on the Gold Coast, further enhancing our local manufacturing base. I know from speaking to business owners at the Gold Coast marine precinct what a boon this TAFE training centre is for them. This facility will assist in filling the skills gap that is currently required to meet 2,000 jobs over the next five years.

I've also spoken with Rivergate marina on the Brisbane River, and they were looking at a major expansion, somewhere in the order of $200 million, to upgrade their facilities with superlifts to be able to accommodate the servicing of superyachts, and they gained council approval last year. Sadly, they have advised me that that expansion will now be put on hold because of the increasing interest rates and other business costs.

In addition, the Olympics and the Paralympic Games coming down the track for Brisbane in 2032 are another tremendous opportunity to attract superyachts to Australia. I know the New Zealanders were particularly looking for superyachts to come to New Zealand for the America's Cup, but, due to COVID-19 and the restrictions applied, that didn't work out the way they wanted. But any way you look at it—from the previous discussions I've had with Rivergate marina, one of the reasons they wanted to do what they wanted to do was that they recognise that, when these yachts come in for a refit, there are the services for the refit and the skilled tradesmen that are required to do those refits, but also the crew stay onshore, so they need accommodation and they go and take advantage of our tourism facilities across the south-east of Queensland. Also, when these superyachts come in for resupply, our fruit and vegetable growers and all of those sorts of businesses benefit.

So I'm pleased to see the government introducing this legislation. It again shows the opportunities we have in this country from new areas of business that we may not have always recognised. Seeing the government build on the good work of the coalition, I'm very pleased to support this bill. It's a tremendous economic windfall that will continue to benefit communities right up and down our coast and over to the west. As I said, I support this bill.

Elizabeth Watson-Brown (Ryan, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Why does this government seem to want to keep rolling out the red carpet for billionaires? Seriously. Today we're being presented by the Labor government with the Special Recreational Vessels Amendment Bill 2023, which will extend, for two whole years, coalition legislation to allow superyachts owned by international billionaires to charter in Australian waters and circumvent having to pay customs taxes. I'm sorry, but, frankly, I find it absolutely bizarre that it's even being considered. Let me just quickly explain what a superyacht actually is, which might make it a little bit clearer just how bizarre the bill is. A superyacht is a luxury vessel greater than 24 metres in length and with a capacity of fewer than 12 overnight passengers. These things get as big as 180 metres long for a mere 12 overnight passengers. To say that these are floating five-star hotels doesn't even begin to describe it. What's the price of these things? A standard 100-metre superyacht will set you back a cool A$400 million.

An honourable member: It's not a tinnie!

It's not a tinnie! To own one of these things you've got to be a billionaire. Let's take a look at some of the superyacht owners that this tax exemption would benefit: Jeff Bezos, net worth $121 billion and a superyacht owner; Larry Page, Google founder, tech tycoon and superyacht owner, with a net worth of $93 billion; Carlos Slim Helu, Mexican telecommunications tycoon and proud superyacht owner, with a net worth of $88 billion; Mukesh Ambani, Indian fossil fuel mogul and superyacht owner, with a net worth of $80 billion; and Roman Abramovich, a Russian billionaire tycoon, who has a superyacht that's 163 metres long, with not two or three but nine decks—the top deck hosts two helipads and a garage, naturally—and a 16-metre swimming pool that can be converted into a dance floor. Needless to say, these are floating environmental disasters, every single one of them. A superyacht consumes an enormous amount of petrol, producing 7,020 tonnes of CO2 per year per yacht. They've been found to be the primary source of pollution by the billionaire class the world over.

They're also absolute nightmares for workers' rights. Superyacht crew in Australia aren't covered by unions, and allegations of exploitation and harassment are rife. The private superyachts often force their staff to sign non-disclosure agreements. What happens on the superyacht stays on the superyacht, evidently. So, when a billionaire brings their tax-exempt, climate-destroying, workers'-rights-wrecking luxury superyacht into Australian waters, who can afford to charter it? That's an interesting question, and I did a bit of googling. It turns out that the cost of chartering the Mischief, a humble 54-metre superyacht, is $82,500 a night—for 12 people, mind you—or $495,000 a week. That's half a million bucks for a week on this thing. That's an Australian owned superyacht. For the international ones that are coming, you can't even google and book with your credit card; you've got to know the right people, and the price tag would be in the millions. Who can afford to rent a superyacht in Australia? Billionaires.

This Labor and Liberal bill gives tax exemptions for international billionaires to bring their superyachts into Australian waters to rent to our own homegrown billionaires. And, wouldn't you know, these local billionaires are the very same people who are receiving $9,000 a year in stage 3 tax cuts from this Labor government. The Australian recently published Australia's rich list: Harry Triguboff, property mogul, who's worth $23.6 billion, up $3 billion from last year; Ivan Glasenberg, mining magnate, who's worth $12.4 billion, also up $3 billion from last year; Lang Walker, of Walker group infamy, who's worth $6 billion, up $1 billion from last year. Then, of course, there's Clive Palmer and Gina Rinehart, who are worth $20.4 billion and $30 billion, respectively, and who famously already own their own superyachts and are being rewarded by the Queensland Labor government's Superyacht Strategy, which, by the way, is all about facilitating billionaires bringing their superyachts to Brisbane for the 2032 Olympic Games.

It's these sorts of people who are receiving that $9,000 tax cut from the government in their stage 3 tax cuts and it's these sorts of people who you'll find on the luxury superyachts that Labor are giving a tax break to in this bill. Everyday people across this country would be absolutely furious to hear that, while their rents and mortgages have skyrocketed, while the cost of groceries has jumped 10 per cent and while they're struggling to pay for petrol to get their kids to school, the Labor government, with the support of the Liberals, is giving a tax break for billionaires to cruise around on 160-metre nine-deck superyachts.

It also strikes me as a very dark irony that the two major parties, Labor and the Liberals, who are in lockstep on turning back boats of refugees fleeing war and persecution, are rolling out the red carpet with tax breaks for billionaires to bring their superyachts into Australian waters. You're stopping the wrong boats.

The Labor government should simply allow this Morrison-era policy to die a natural death in June this year, as it was meant to, rather than keep it going for another two years. They'll claim it's about tourism, but that's not tourism. Tourism is a working family heading up to Cairns for a holiday, to be alive in the sunshine for a week or two, and supporting the local establishments in the area. This bill is facilitating billionaire excess.

Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party, Shadow Minister for International Development and the Pacific) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Captain Stubing would be so unimpressed by that last speech. Of course, he was the skipper on TheLove Boat. 'The love boat soon will be …'—yes, you know the theme song. Of course, it sailed around the Pacific and other wonderful places. But they didn't worry too much about what the member for Ryan was going to say. They didn't worry too much about that. I suggest that there's a little rift between Labor and the Greens. Normally they would have been on the Love Boat. They would have been catching up and romancing on TheLove Boat. Even though they've done a dodgy deal to get the safeguard mechanisms through, on this account TheLove Boat has very much abruptly stopped somewhere in the deep ocean.

This is good legislation. I'll tell you why it's good legislation—because I was the one who introduced it in the first place. The Special Recreational Vessels Amendment Bill 2023 extends that. It ensures that the sunset is not somewhere on the deep blue Pacific but is ongoing—this time by a further two years to 30 June 2025.

Despite the member for Ryan's protestations, this isn't just about billionaires. It's not. It's actually about—

Honourable Member:

An honourable member interjecting—

Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party, Shadow Minister for International Development and the Pacific) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I hear the interjection. That's all well and good. But this is about making sure that Australia gets its share of the work involved when those big ships—and, yes, I agree they are huge vessels—dock. The Greens would have us send it all offshore—'Let's send all our manufacturing offshore because of the too-high energy costs,' which are brought about by their dodgy deals with the government.

This legislation makes sure that, when boats need to dock, they can do so in Australia. They can do so and spend much of that money on replenishing food—food that is grown organically, food that is grown by workers who are paid the right rates and food that is grown sustainably. The member wants to see all those things go to some overseas nation. That is going to happen right here in Australia. When the sides of the ship need the barnacles removed, that's going to happen in Australia. The people who are going to remove those shellfish and other things that have attached themselves to the side of the boat will be paid the right wages right here in Australia. When they need other things that only Australia can supply, that will happen right here on our shores.

The Greens's way is to send everything offshore. They don't care if it's going to go to Singapore, New Zealand or elsewhere in the Pacific, but we do, and I'm glad that Labor also does. This is why the Special Recreational Vessels Amendment Bill 2023 needs to be supported. This is why the legislation is so important. It's not about billionaires; it's about making sure that Australia's tourist economy and Australia's worker economy get a part of the action.

The act allows foreign special recreational vessels, otherwise known as superyachts, to be able to operate in Australia and to be made available for hire or charter. Again, that improves our tourism. If people want to have that experience, they can. It's not just, as the member for Ryan would have you believe, only billionaires, only people who are well connected, who may seek entry onto one of these vessels. She mentioned one party in the coalition. Well, there's more than just one party in the coalition. There is more than just the Liberals. There is also the Nationals. Whilst I appreciate my landlocked electorate is a long way from the Great Barrier Reef, this is going to help Australia, and the Nationals always support legislation that helps our nation, that is in the national interest.

The former coalition government introduced the Special Recreational Vessels Act 2019 to allow foreign-flagged superyachts to opt into the regulatory regime under the Coastal Trading (Revitalising Australian Shipping) Act 2012 and to apply for temporary licences enabling them to offer charter services in Australia. I am a little bit disappointed that it is left up to the Greens to speak on this. I am disappointed that the Labor members are not listed. But it doesn't really surprise me. When I introduced this legislation back in 2019, the now Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government spoke on it, as the shadow infrastructure minister. But, as I rose to give the second reading speech, what do you think the member for Ballarat did? She called a quorum. I know those opposite think we're the only ones who do that sort of caper, who try to disrupt the parliamentary procedure and protocols, but you were very good at it for the nine years that we were in government. If it meant that much to those opposite, why haven't they got speakers on this bill? If workers' rights are so important, as the member for Ryan points out, if environmental concerns are so important, as the Greens member points out, if all of those issues are so important with your little love boat, your little love nest, why aren't you speaking on the bill? Why aren't you going off onto a little sunset romantic cruise with the member for Ryan? The question deserves to be answered, but we hear crickets.

Anyway, I digress. Interestingly enough, when the member for Ballarat did rise to speak back in 2019, she said:

Labor will always back improving job opportunities, particularly in our regions—

Would you believe, Member for Eden-Monaro?—

nevertheless, Labor's scrutiny of the bill is very important.

Apparently it was important then. It's not now. They're just putting it through and leaving the Nationals and the Greens to speak on it, although I must admit the member for Forde gave an excellent speech earlier on this piece of legislation. The member for Ballarat pointed out in 2019:

There is concern amongst some existing operators of Australian owned tourism vessels that temporary licences could be a backdoor mechanism to allow foreign-flagged superyachts to spend considerable time in Australia …

Heaven forbid! That's what we want them to do, because we want them to come here and spend money—money that would otherwise go to Singapore, New Zealand or elsewhere across the world. We want them to come here to Australia. We want them to come to shipyards in Australia and to spend their money here.

The Olympics are coming up. The Paralympics are coming up. This is what makes it so important. Not only do we need to extend this to 2025; it needs to be then extended again after this extension that we're going to get through the House. I note that the Greens will probably oppose it. They oppose everything. We saw a while ago in the House of Representatives that they were getting beaten 90-something to two or three—and that's what should happen. The Greens just want to hold up this legislation because it's good legislation. That's what the Greens do. I appreciate that, in a democracy, we need people with differing and divergent views, and good luck to the member for Ryan for expressing one. But I don't like to see work that should be done in Australia pushed offshore. She points out that workers should be paid a fair day's pay for a fair day's work. I agree with her absolutely. That's why people who will be working on the superyachts, when they arrive on Australia shores, will be paid a fair day's pay for a fair day's work.

Prior to the act I introduced in 2019 there was no mechanism by which foreign superyachts could be offered for hire or charter services in Australian waters as recreational vehicles, which were not covered by the coastal trading act. We were missing out on all of that business; we were missing out on all of that money. This was not a good thing.

Michelle Ananda-Rajah (Higgins, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It being 6.30 pm, the debate is interrupted in accordance with standing order 192B. The debate is adjourned and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next day of sitting.