Labor gives a damn

By By Martin Ferguson MP, Shadow Minister for Transport

From an address to the Shipping Australia Ltd Luncheon August 7, 2002 Hilton Hotel, SYDNEY (abridged)

By Martin Ferguson MP, Shadow Minister for Transport

Shipping is part of Australia. It is in the blood of many Australians from coastal communities like Wollongong, Launceston, Newcastle and Perth to name just a few.

For all these reasons and many more, I fail to accept the argument of the current Minister for Transport, John Anderson, that Australia is a nation of shippers, not a shipping nation.

I do not accept that Australia's national interest is served and we can only prosper as a buyer of shipping services, not a provider.

The Labor Party cares about Australian shipping - as a shipping nation.

The Howard Government has had a dire impact on the Australian shipping industry. The Australian merchant fleet has continued to shrink by all measures - raw numbers of vessels, deadweight and gross tonnage terms.

In 1994, the Australian merchant fleet stood at 90 vessels. By mid 2000 that number had dropped to 77.

The latest Waterline Report issued by the Bureau of Transport and Regional Economics shows the total volume of cargo moved under Continuous Voyage Permits and Single Voyage Permits rose by 32 per cent in 2000.

The permit system is being used by the Howard Government to undermine the Australian shipping industry and other transport industries. I do not abide by the arguments about competition in regard to this Government policy.

Competition is fine where the regulatory parameters are fair for all players. This is not the case with the open slather use of permits. The regulatory and economic dice are loaded to the foreign operators against the Australian industry.

When debating this issue in the Parliament, I have used an industry closer to the Minister for Transport's heart to test the fairness of his shipping policy. And I put it to you today:

Would the Australian agricultural community accept an argument that Australia is a nation of food eaters, not a nation of food growers?

Would the Australian manufacturing community accept an argument that Australia is a nation of food eaters, not a nation of food product manufacturers?

Would the Australian government - in the interests of cheaper food for Australian families - issue special permits to foreign farm companies that would allow them to work great tracts of Australian farmland, bringing their own labour who are not required to meet the same work visa requirements as other companies importing labour?

In that context it sounds unbelievable - but that is exactly what the Minister for Transport is doing to the domestic shipping, rail and road transport industries in the sole interest of cheaper shipping costs.

The Howard Government is prepared to sacrifice the Australian shipping industry on the altar of the class war. As a consequence, there is no process of industry reform in Australia on the shipping front.

It has to be said that the Australian shipping industry is in dire straits.

When other great Australian industries were in dire straits, this Government weighed in - look at the money that went to the sugar industry, the dairy industry to name just a few.

Increasingly, the world-class educational facility in Launceston - the Australian Maritime College - is relying on foreign students to pay its way.

The Australian shipping companies operating in the international trade are not assisted by the Howard Government, with most maritime countries offering tax relief and assistance that the Australian government will not contemplate.

As a consequence, work and market share is lost and other revenues are denied to Australia.

The problem for the Australian shipping industry is that the Howard Government does not care who owns or operates the ship on the dock - their interest stops there.

As I have said today, Labor does give a damn about an Australian shipping industry.

But my interest in the Australian shipping industry is deeper than developing the policy that Labor will take to the next election. I do not think the industry can wait that long.

Therefore, I have pledged myself to continuously campaign to prise open the eyes and ears of the Federal Government - whoever is Prime Minister, the Minister for Transport, Environment, Defence or Immigration, to push for change.

The reason for doing that is nothing short of our national interest.