Labor govt to refloat Australian shipping

Martin Ferguson, shadow transport minister by Rocco Fazzarri

ALP National Conference commits to cabotage and Australian jobs in shipping and the offshore industry

ALP National Conference has committed a Labor government to ensuring a strong and viable Australian coastal shipping industry, employing Australian seafarers working under the Australian flag with Australian terms and conditions of employment.

It has also committed to extending Australian law to any ships and crew trading on the Australian coast.

A Rudd Labor Government would put a stop to the abuse of loopholes in the Navigation Act through which shippers have accessed cut-rate foreign flagged vessels to carry domestic Australian cargo on the coast at the cost of Australian shipping.

Labor will do this by way of tightening cabotage provisions in Part VI of the Navigation Act, thus ending a decade of Australian ships such as the CSL Yarra (Now Stadacona) and the CSL River Torrens (now CSL Pacific) being flagged out and brought back on the coast with guest workers.

The Labor platform also recognised the 2003 High Court ruling that irrespective of what flag a ship flies, what nationality the crew is or what country the shipping company or employer is based in, if the ship is in the Australian coastal trade or operating in Australian waters, Australian workplace laws, customs, tax and migration laws apply.

The High Court ruling was overturned by way of the Howard Government WorkChoices laws in March 2006. However a Labor Government would adopt these principles, protect vulnerable seafarers and promote fair labour standards in the Australian shipping industry.

Victorian Branch Secretary Kevin Bracken, WA deputy Keith McCorriston and the national secretary Paddy Crumlin addressed the conference on shipping and IR policy.

"We welcome Labor's adoption of a strong Australian shipping policy, the restoration of cabotage and an end to the abuse of the permit system," said Paddy Crumlin after addressing conference. "The Howard Government has done more damage to Australian shipping in the past decade than either world war. The election of a Labor Government is in the best interest of the industry and the nation."

Conservative Backlash

The policy proclamation was met by an outcry - via the Murdoch press - from foreign shipping, freight forwarders, bulk commodity groups and others who have profited most from the deregulation of the Australian coast under the Howard Government. Media pressure built, not unlike that run against the ALP policy to do away with Australian Workplace Agreements, in an attempt to pressure Labor into a backdown.

In response Shadow Minister for Transport Martin Ferguson reinforced the party policy that the review of cabotage was in line with industry requests, not just the union's.

"We are committed to a strong, efficient domestic shipping industry that offers fair pay and working conditions to Australian workers," he said. "And the responsible use of single and continuous voyage permits."

The shadow minister said a Labor Government would review cabotage laws with the objectives of sustaining a viable and efficient domestic shipping industry and responsible use of single and continuous voyage permits, and safety and security in Australian ports and shipping lanes.

He said this policy was also based on a request by the CEO of the Australian Shipowners Association, Lachlan Payne, to incorporate issues raised in the "Independent Review of Australian Shipping" (September 2003) undertaken by Peter Morris, a former Labor Transport Minister, and John Sharp, the first Transport Minister of the Howard government.

Martin Ferguson said a Labor Government would work with industry stakeholders - openly and transparently - to address those concerns, many of which are articulated in the Morris/Sharp review.

The 2003 IRAS report stressed the importance of a strong Australian fleet to our economy and security and called for a review of the cabotage provisions in the Navigation Act. It noted that the increased use of low cost low quality foreign shipping with foreign crews had the potential to weaken Australia's border protection.

Despite the report being co-authored by former Coalition minister John Sharp and despite calls by the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs Defence and Trade into Australia's Maritime Strategy report tabled in June 2004 also calling for the Federal Government to urgently respond to measures proposed by the Independent Review of Australian Shipping, it was ignored by the Howard Government.

"Australian shipping is at the crossroads. If we want to have a shipping industry into the future, then governments must act now," said National Secretary Paddy Crumlin. "Under Labor cabotage will remain a bedrock for the Australian shipping industry into the future. A Labor Government will repair 10 years of intimidation, exploitation and harassment of seafarers and manipulation of the shipping industry. It will replace the Howard Government policy of bludgeoning Australian seafarers out of the Australian workplace and reinstate national industrial employment rights in the coastal shipping trade."

Labor is unambiguously committed to stopping "the rorting of the coastal shipping permit system" and to reinforcing cabotage. This would see an expansion of Australian coastal shipping industry.

A Rudd/Gillard Government would also:

• encourage more Australian ships and jobs in international shipping through bilateral agreements between trading partners, especially in the strategic LNG trade

• encourage long term investment to rebuild Australian maritime industries

• address the maritime skills shortage

• re-establish our defence self sufficiency in shipping and ensure cooperation between the Australian Defence Force and the merchant marine

• set up a national register and database of all maritime employees, including seafarers, port and stevedore workers

• explore the possibility of a single, cooperative national maritime jurisdiction through integration of the various state, territory and federal maritime authorities

• ensure the Maritime Security ID card is used to identify genuine threats to national security and not exclude Australian workers from employment

• guarantee the rights of all seafarers to shore leave and ensure welfare organisation, trade unions and visitors access to crew on their vessels in accordance with the IMO and ISPS Code

• ratify and implement ILO and IMO conventions, codes and recommendations especially the ILO Seafarers' Bill of Rights

• set up Industry Innovation Councils with union representation to encourage a world-class maritime industry

• ensure that where Australia shares economic zones with East Timor, PNG and Indonesia, preference of employment is given to the participating nations and that the actual conditions of employment, safety and maritime legislation are no less than those in the Australian offshore oil and gas industry

• consult with regional governments on how to involve regional nations in training for the offshore oil and gas industry, to help meet Australia's skills needs and to facilitate skills transfer as a part of Australia's commitment to regional development

• recognise the vital role of the International Transport Workers' Federation in the protection of international seafarers visiting Australia's ports

•ensure there is a genuine link between all ships and their flag state as a means of combating abuses under the flag of convenience (FOC) system.

The MUA delegates to conference were Paddy Crumlin, Kevin Bracken, Keith McCorriston, Mick Robinson, Werner Cohrs and Sean Lawrence.

The ALP Transport Policy can be downloaded from their website

http://www.alp.org.au/platform/index.php .