Alan Jones Backs Yarra Crew

Talk back radio host Alan Jones joins chorus of condemnation against government shipping policy

First it was John Laws, then it was Alan Jones throwing their weight behind the crew of the Yarra and their stand against flag of convenience shipping on our coast.

Jones ran hard against the Howard Government on 2GB on May 10. "The Maritime Union has protested, in my opinion, correctly," he said before inviting MUA National Secretary Paddy Crumlin to take the mike.

"Isn't it ironical that they are wanting to employ Ukrainians to ignore every aspect of industrial and labour law but want to use our courts to get these workers off the ship?" Jones asked Crumlin.

"Yeah," said Crumlin. "They don't mind Australia if they're marching Australian workers down into the courts, but they're not interested at all about applying the Immigration Act, the Customs Act, the Workplace Relations Act and Australia's taxation laws. "

"We don't know who these people are," said Jones. "We don't know whether they are drug runners. We don't whether they've got rifles. We don't know what they're bringing into the country, taking out of the country. So, there are very significant Customs risks are there not?"

"The US has got a thing called the Jones Act," said Crumlin "They refuse any FOC or foreign shipping in their domestic shipping lanes and they have absolute security about any seafarer coming in and out of the country. In Australia, it's basically an open go."

Jones then spelt out exactly how flag of convenience shipping creates a smokescreen for everything from environmental disasters to gun running, money laundering, corruption, fraud, illegal fishing, people smuggling, drug trafficking and terrorism.

"If something goes wrong, you can't track down the villain or prosecute the villain," said Jones, citing the Erika oil spill off France. "The clean up cost the French taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars."

"Two dollar companies,with limited liability," Crumlin told the estimated 57,000 Australians that listen in to Alan Jones each day.

"We don't want to be alarmist," said Jones. "But it is fact, is it not, that Osama Bin Laden is said to have a secret fleet under flags of convenience? How do we know that Osama Bin Laden isn't crewing some of these ships?"

That was a question for the Australian Government and Crumlin took the opportunity to give them a serve:

"Well, it's just this extraordinary lapse of leadership," he said. "It's either a blind spot, lack of leadership or malevolent intent, or maybe a combination of the three. I'm not sure, Alan."

Jones then switched to SA Assistant Branch Secretary Jamie Newlyn on board the Yarra, asking first off if they're were going to smoke the crew out.

"They're going to try, Alan," said Newlyn. "But we're not scared of the dark, so we're here for the long haul."

"Hang in there," said Jones. "You're a courageous man. And I just hope that the government sees a bit of sanity in all of this."