Perin Davey (NSW, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the ANL Legislation Repeal Bill. As has been noted, this bill repeals the ANL Act 1956 and the ANL Guarantee Act 1994, which both set out arrangements relating to the former Commonwealth shipping line ANL, or the Australian National Line, which was owned and operated by the Commonwealth during the last century.

The ANL shipping line was founded in 1956 and operated until 1998 as a Commonwealth owned entity. In 1998, the Commonwealth sold the line, including all associated business names, trademarks and intellectual property, to the container shipping company CMA CGM. Since the sale of ANL to CMA CGM in 1998, the ANL Act has been left dormant and has largely had no legal or practical effect. And while most of the act is defunct, it still restricts the use of certain protected names relating to the ANL shipping line, including the names 'ANL', 'Australian National Line' and 'SeaRoad'. This is restricting some businesses from registering domain names, website names and trademarks, despite these businesses actually having used these names in good faith for many years since the sale of the original company.

The ANL Act contains no discretionary provisions or powers that would allow other entities to use the protected names. The government has taken a pragmatic approach towards enforcing the protected name provisions. No prosecutions have been undertaken and none are planned. However, we need a permanent solution. A permanent solution is required to ensure that we as a government do not hinder businesses from legitimately registering or reregistering trademarks, website names or other intellectual property, especially those businesses that have been doing so in good faith for many years.

Repeal of this act is the most appropriate and efficient means to remedy this situation. If the ANL Act is not repealed before 1 November 2019—this year—when the website registration of the first affected company is set to expire, the Commonwealth could be exposed to significant legal, financial and reputational risks for not honouring that 1998 sale of ANL in good faith. As with the ANL Act and the ANL Guarantee Act, as they no longer have any legal or practical effect, they should and can be repealed. The guarantee act sits with the Treasury portfolio and grants the Treasurer the power to guarantee loans made in relation to the former government shipping line, ANL Ltd, but, as the ANL shipping line no longer belongs to the Commonwealth, this power is no longer required.

This bill is important because maritime trade is and always has been vital to Australia's economy, and we need to make sure that our companies and corporations can operate using their own intellectual property and trademarks. In fact Australia relies on sea transport for 99 per cent of its imports and exports. A substantial portion of our domestic freight also depends on coastal shipping. Shipping and maritime trade supports both directly and indirectly the livelihoods of Australians right across the nation, including in my home state of New South Wales, where ports serve as a key economic driver in our region: the port of Newcastle is the largest port on the east coast, is one of the world's largest coal export ports and has been a global trade gateway for more than 220 years; Port Kembla, on the Illawarra coast, is home to the state's largest motor vehicle import hub and grain export terminal and is the second largest coal export port in New South Wales, behind Newcastle; and Port Botany, the largest container facility in New South Wales and the state's primary bulk liquid and gas port, serves as a global trade gateway to Sydney, the largest population centre in Australia.

It is a duty of Australia's regulatory framework for our maritime industries to remain current and fit for purpose and it is a duty that we take very seriously. I agree with Senator Brown, who says that we need to maintain a viable, sustainable industry, but it is also very important that that industry is internationally and globally competitive, and that is what the government is committed to doing. Our regulatory framework should continue to facilitate trade, which is critical to the continued prosperity of so many Australians and Australian industries, and this requires the government to remove unnecessary regulation and regulatory burdens to support the efficient operation of maritime businesses. In essence we need to reduce red tape. This bill will ensure affected maritime businesses can get on with their operations and make important contributions to our national economy without interference from unintended historical regulatory barriers. I commend this bill to the Senate.