Kim Carr (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Human Services) Share this | Hansard source

The government makes no apology whatsoever for asserting that Australian seafarers working on vessels in Australian waters should have the benefit of Australian workplace relations laws and should have a fair safety net for their employment conditions. This position stands in very sharp contrast to that of those opposite who, when they were in government, took the view that foreign ships should be excluded from the protections of Australian law. The position that the opposition took was that Australian working people should not be able to rely upon the protection of Australian law when working on ships off the Australian coast. This allowed foreign seafarers working in Australian waters to be paid significantly less than Australian workers performing work on the same routes.

Clearly, this position is intolerable. This is the equivalent of allowing foreign workers to come to Australia on section 457 visas but not requiring them to be paid the same minimum entitlements as Australian workers. As well as being unfair, it is a disincentive to employ Australians. At a time when we understand the importance of providing real economic opportunities for Australian workers, you would have thought the Liberal Party would have woken up to itself by now. The Australian government's shipping reforms do not close our coast to foreign ships but do encourage people to be treated fairly and properly under Australian law, and the government makes no apology whatsoever.

With regard to the proposition that this is an attempt to undermine Australian shipping, we are opening up opportunities for Australian shipping and Australian shipping companies.