Helen Polley (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to talk about the ANL Legislation Repeal Bill 2019. This bill is to repeal the ANL Act 1956 and the ANL Guarantee Act 1994. It is designed to remove the current restrictions that are extremely out of date and unnecessary. ANL was an Australian government owned shipping line that was sold to a French shipping company in 1998. This sale included all access to business names, the IP and websites. It also included for the remaining staff to have all their leave and entitlements be met by the new owner. Over the years since the sale there have been issues around new owners having full provisions to use the ANL trademarks, IP and web addresses without the risk of being sued. This bill will give the legal clarity and certainty to the French container company that they are entitled to.

Labor, as a party, are proud to support the Australian shipping industry. We know that shipping is an important national strategic industry. For my home state of Tasmania shipping is crucial for our island. If we are to value and add to the products and produce that we are currently exporting then shipping will only become increasingly more important. As an island we depend on shipping as it is our lifeline. We rely on the shipping industry for transportation of freight and passengers. In fact, in Australia 99 per cent of our trade to and from other countries is carried out by ship. We know that Australia has the fourth largest shipping freight task in the world.

In Australia international shipping is becoming busier with the expansion of our commodity trade. We have also seen a boom in the cruise ship industry and know that we're seeing more international tourists visiting Australia. In Tasmania alone for the period of 2019 to 2020 there are 130 scheduled cruise ships planned to visit. This boom in tourism, with the help of cruise ships, is great for our economy both here in Australia generally and, in particular, for my home state of Tasmania.

Through the history of Labor, we have shown we are proud to support the vital role that the Australian maritime industry plays in securing our economic, environmental and national security interests. In fact, if Labor had been elected at the last election we would have worked to create a strategic fleet of Australian flagged vessels that could be called upon in areas of strategic importance to the Australian economy and, in particular, the distribution of liquid fuel. If Labor had been elected in May, we would have stopped the abuse we see on temporary licences that has occurred under this Liberal government, which is in breach of existing legislation. We would have ensured that the national interest was of high importance when it comes to licensing of foreign ships to work in Australia.

Labor, unlike the current government, is a big supporter of the Australian maritime workers and the Australian flagged vessels. We know that a vibrant maritime industry can help serve our nation's economic, environmental and national security interests and, as such, we want to see the industry that serves the nation's shipping needs able to create profit for the industry and secure a strategic set of maritime skills that can provide jobs and opportunities for our people.

In fact, the Australian Maritime College, based in Launceston in Tasmania, has a significant role to play in education and training, and skilling of maritime workers both within the Australian shipping areas and also internationally. So we do have very much a vested interest in ensuring that we have a vibrant, profitable but well-trained and skilled maritime industry.

In the last six years, we've seen contrast to Labor's plans and, in fact, we've seen this current government neglect this vital industry. We've seen this government undermine policy settings that were put in place by the previous Labor government, and they have failed to even offer an alternative view for the maritime sector in this country. Even though we know we have a high percentage of trade to and from countries, we've seen this current government cut our Australian fleet. We now have only 14 vessels that operate both domestically and internationally. Australia's seaborne trade is carried by less than half of one per cent by Australian flagged ships. This is money going out of Australia and means fewer jobs for Australian workers.

In my home state of Tasmania, shipping is vital in creating jobs and economic growth. Tasmania, as I've said, is an island that is isolated by water, and as such Tasmanian consumers and exporters demand and depend on shipping in order to export our high-quality products and produce. If nothing is done to protect shipping, then Australia is potentially at risk, which would have a massive effect and a very negative effect on our economy.

With the ridiculously high use of temporary licences that have been allowed under this Liberal government, on their watch we have seen foreign flagged ships come in and do the work, bringing along with them foreign workers. As such, work has been taken away from Australian maritime workers. The Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison governments have had an extremely long history of undermining the viability of Australian maritime industries, despite their importance to our national security. They talk about wanting to keep all Australians safe, yet we have international vessels from a various number of countries coming into our waters, and we have no idea—I repeat: no idea—about their workers and if they could potentially create a risk to our security.

In fact, in 2015 the then minister for transport and infrastructure tried to introduce legislation that would rip up reforms made by the previous Labor government's legislation that aimed to protect Australian shipping. While the Labor Party agrees to support the ANL Legislation Repeal Bill, we will be watching the government very closely and very carefully, as their track record regarding protecting Australian shipping has not had the high priority that we would place on it, and we will be holding them accountable. We will continue to keep this government accountable, and we will make sure that the maritime industry is protected and that Australian workers and Australian businesses are looked after and not pushed aside and forgotten by this Liberal government.