David Bushby (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to make note of the wonderful work that the three Tasmanian Liberal members—the member for Lyons, Eric Hutchinson; the member for Bass, Andrew Nikolic; and the member for Braddon, Brett Whitely—are doing in the communities of Tasmania. In particular, I would like to talk about the member for Lyons and the exceptional job he is doing in representing his constituency, one which largely forgotten about and certainly for granted by Labor for two decades.

I would also like to throw my support behind the work that Mr Hutchinson has done towards reducing the coastal shipping disadvantage that Tasmania, Australia's only island state, is burdened with. On Monday, 1 December this year—just at the beginning of this week—Mr Hutchinson made a speech in the other place that clearly illustrated the issues that Tasmania and indeed Australia faces in regard to coastal shipping matters. It followed an opinion that was published in one of the Tasmanian papers on the same subject, drawing together the results of his deep and significant consultation and consideration of the challenges that Tasmanians face as a result of Bass Strait's existence. Mr Hutchison said:

The changes to coastal shipping in 2009 and again in 2012 under the Coastal Trading (Revitalising Australian Shipping) Act 2012, particularly in relation to cabotage rules, damaged our nation's competitiveness, decreased productivity on our vital coastal shipping routes and pushed up costs.

I was on the Economics Committee at the time that examine this legislation and authored a dissenting report from the Labor majority report. The fears that were represented in that dissenting report have come to pass and have been quite effectively highlighted by Mr Hutchinson in the work that he has been doing on this matter recently. Mr Hutchinson went on to say:

Higher costs have seen manufacturers in aluminium, cement and fuel refining have no choice but to use coastal shipping for their product and raw materials and a number of these businesses have closed in recent years as a result of dramatically higher rates for coastal shipping.

Mr Hutchinson further said:

… the changes by Labor have impacted nationally but as an island state, nowhere has been harder hit than in my state of Tasmania.

The last international vessel to service Tasmania the AAA service stopped at Bell Bay and other domestic ports on the east coast before heading back to Singapore. This service ceased under the changes made by the previous government overseen by the Member for Grayndler, Anthony Albanese.

Mr Hutchinson pointed out that the AAA service was deemed unviable. More volume moved on Bass Strait and, with no competition due to the competitiveness of Australian ships, prices went up. In fact, the number of major Australian registered ships with licences to move coastal freight fell from 30 in 2006-07 to just 13 by 2012-13. If I recall correctly, at the time of the 2009 changes, there were 17—so it has been a steady decline, and it was supposed to reverse that. I have heard a lot of evidence from those who were proponents of those bills—they were saying that it would actually reverse that decline. The number of vessels has marginally risen since 2012-13, but the deadweight tonnage has plummeted by 64 per cent over the last two years. In any consideration of this matter, this is the telling metric—the amount of deadweight tonnage that is actually being removed.

The state government at the time, after ignoring the problem for two years hoping it would go away, responded with a policy of going into competition with the private businesses plying Bass Strait. As Mr Hutchinson said: 'The then opposition, now government, committed $33 million over three years to entice—encourage, if you will, subsidise—a service to return to Tasmania and service hubs in Asia. No more starkly can you see the financial impact flowing as a direct result of Labor's changes in government than in Tasmania. Multiply that cost around the country and consider the length of our coastline, and you can imagine the impact on business that relied on such services.'

Mr Hutchinson's words illustrate the high level of wisdom and maturity he brings to this important topic—important particularly to Tasmanians. Furthermore, his passion for improving the lot of Tasmanian businesses, workers and the community is clearly evident from this body of work. Mr Hutchinson—and I might add, his Liberal colleagues Mr Nikolic and Mr Whiteley—are amongst the hardest working and most consultative members in this parliament. The electorate of Lyons is amongst the most beautiful in Australia. It includes the extraordinary beauty of Tasmania's central highlands through to the majestic east coast, including places like the majestic Freycinet National Park. It also contains areas of significant historical and cultural significance such as Port Arthur and many historic towns. Mr Hutchinson's presence in so many local communities often appears to be superhuman. In a morning, Mr Hutchinson may appear at a local school on the east coast, and in the same day he may be visiting an agricultural business in the Derwent Valley—and then a community forum in the north of the state. He often spends more hours on the road than some members of parliament spend at work.

Above all else, Mr Hutchinson is a member who listens to his constituents and takes action to improve the lives of everyday Tasmanians who, sadly, have suffered 16 years of neglect under, until recently, an ineffective Labor state government and an arrogant and lazy local Labor federal MP. I welcome the work that Mr Hutchinson is doing in Tasmania. At long last there is a genuine feeling in the community that things are improving and the economy is stirring—and this is due in no small part to the Liberal trio of Mr Hutchinson, Mr Nikolic and Mr Whiteley.

Senate adjourned at 19 : 55