May-Jun 2008

Surfing carnivals highlight threat to our beaches

Maritime workers hosted surfing competitions in Coolangatta, Queensland and Wollongong, NSW in June. The events were also a venue for the union campaign to raise public awareness about the silent invasion of the Australian coast by substandard, foreign shipping...

"Foreign shipping is torpedoing our jobs, sinking our merchant fleet and polluting our coastline," said Southern Queensland Assistant Branch Secretary Dave Perry. "We're drawing a line in the sand. We're fighting them on the beaches."

Foreign ships have dominated the carriage of Australia's international trade for decades. But coastal trade and our coast has been protected by federal legislation restricting the carriage of our domestic transport to Australian flagged and crewed vessels where possible. Now that is all changing. The government is encouraging shippers to use cheap, foreign flagged and crewed vessels - a move that has ended up in the Federal Court in Melbourne.

"Too many of these vessels employ unskilled, sweated labour, holding fraudulent certification," said Dave Perry. "Many of them have to bribe manning agents to get jobs. Far too many are abused and exploited on the job. Too many of the ships are rustbuckets. It's a recipe for disaster. The Australian public would not pile on the top of overloaded buses or trains from India, nor would they like sharing the roads with trucks registered in the Philippines. This is especially so if they knew the people driving them are paid starvation wages and go without sleep for days at a time. We're calling on Australians to keep our beaches free of cheap shipping. We're raising the alarm so people know we are now at greater risk of ships running aground covering our beaches with oil."

The Queensland Year 2000, Old Malibu championships, were held at Coolangatta Beach, on June 3, starting at 7.30am and going all weekend.

On the same weekend the Southern NSW Branch held a friendly surfing competition and environmental awareness campaign with the Koori community on North Wollongong Beach. An estimated 70 contestants competed from 8am on Saturday, going all weekend, with lunch provided to families and friends.

"Indigenous Australians more than any others understand the threat an influx of substandard shipping will bring to this country," said Branch Secretary Mark Armstrong. "They didn't exactly welcome the first fleet. The destruction that another wave of foreign shipping will bring to our shores will be devastating."

Surfing carnivals highlight threat to our beaches

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