Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Employment) Share this | Hansard source

Yes I can, and I thank Senator Bushby for his question. The coalition government is acting to help restore the good health of the Australian shipping industry and fix the mess left by Labor. Australia needs a strong shipping industry in order to support Australian jobs in manufacturing, transport and other sectors. In April 2014, the government released an options paper and called for submissions on the state of the shipping industry. We received 85 submissions, the majority of them calling for reform of the current arrangements. It should not be cheaper to transport goods to Singapore than it is to send them to Brisbane. The government is considering these submissions and continuing to consult on ways to develop a more flexible framework to reduce costs and restore competitiveness to the Australian shipping industry. It is only a coalition government that will reform industry regulation to put the needs of Australian workers first. (Time expired)