Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party, Assistant Minister to the Deputy Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

This Shipping Legislation Amendment Bill 2015 will substantially deregulate coastal shipping by replacing the current framework for the regulation of coastal shipping in Australia with a single permit for all Australian and overseas ships, by reducing red tape and regulation and by providing greater competition in shipping services. It will enhance choice for business and it will also ensure that appropriate measures to retain Australian jobs, skills and seafarers' workplace pay and conditions endure.

You may wonder what the landlocked member for Riverina is doing in speaking about this, but in my new role as Assistant Minister to the Deputy Prime Minister—and that includes his portfolio responsibilities for infrastructure and regional development—it is indeed important to the new work that I am doing. Just last week I spoke at the Australasian Marine Pilots Institute's international pilotage conference, which was held at the Australian Maritime Museum in Sydney. I spoke about much of what is in this bill in my keynote opening speech at that particular conference.

Before I discuss that, I would like to take the member for Lalor up on a few points that she made. When she said there were 100,000 fewer apprentices in Australia today than there were two years ago, I think that is a gross exaggeration—I really do. Given that the coalition has in fact created more jobs, I find it very hard to believe that there are 100,000 fewer apprentices now than there were in 2013. I say that I am the proud father of my youngest son who is taking up an electrical apprenticeship from 18 January next year. There are opportunities, particularly in regional Australia. I always say that a trade certificate is worth every bit as much as a university degree—every bit as much.

The member for Lalor talked about 457 visas. It is a constant chorus of complaint that I hear from the other side who demonise that valuable 457 visa workplace arrangement. If the visa were not in place for areas such as the Riverina, the Mallee, the Murray—those electorates where seasonal work is so important—the harvest would rot in the paddocks, would rot on the vines and would rot in the fields because, without 457 workers, the crops would not get harvested. It annoys me so much that Labor constantly demonises the 457 workplace visa arrangement.

As for her being flippant about stopping the boats, I have to say there were 1,200 deaths at sea during the six years of Labor's sorry immigration and border protection policies. They have been saved with our tougher border protection measures in place. We should never be flippant about stopping the boats, particularly as it is saving lives. Our strong border protection measures in place now are saving lives.

As I said, last week, on Tuesday, 6 October, I spoke at this important Australasian Marine Pilots Institute conference in Sydney. The marine pilot's profession is a very valued one. Some 84 licensed pilots deal with more than 5,300 vessel movements each year through the Great Barrier Reef, and 320 pilots handle more than 60,000 vessel movements through Australia's ports. Together, the challenges that they encounter are like those of other high-pressure vocations, such as long-haul airline pilots and air traffic controllers. They are at least equal to what those important people do for our aviation industry, and I applaud, as I said at the conference, the Australasian Marine Pilots Institute for developing the capacity of marine pilots and the way they promote their professional interests. A lot of the focus at the conference was on infrastructure. Delivering better infrastructure is a high priority for the coalition government. It involves new infrastructure assets, not least of which are ports, amongst the record $50 billion investment that we are making in infrastructure right across the nation.

Last May, the government received the Australian Infrastructure Audit, which assessed the nation's infrastructure needs out to 2030. The audit identified key challenges and inherent risks, such as the increasing congestion and bottlenecks that Australia's transport networks face without additional action, and that also involves ports. A focal point for these pressures will be freight movements through and beyond our ports, and that comes into why this important legislation is before the House tonight. The audit found that container movements through Australia's ports are projected to grow by 165 per cent between 2011 and 2031, while non-containerised trade is projected to grow by 138 per cent over the same period. They are staggering projections, and this growth is already underway. Between July and December 2014, the overall throughput at Australian ports increased by three per cent relative to the same six months in 2013. Australia's marine pilots clearly made, as I told the conference, a major contribution to achieving this growth, and labour productivity at container ports increased by 2.7 per cent in 2013-14.

Of course, other factors come into play. In particular, land-side efficiency continues to decline in all ports except Adelaide, with average truck turnaround time increasing by 5.7 per cent. This decline highlights a critical link between developments on the land and sea sides around our ports.

Container vessel sizes for Australian ports are increasing. Larger post-Panamax size vessels—5,000 to 13,000 20 foot equivalent units—are likely to progressively replace smaller vessels. This places greater strains on the land-side capacity of Australian ports, but if operators respond with more truck movements they could simply create greater congestion levels. The risk shows that there is an opportunity for freight rail in Australia to grow its market share, help reduce traffic congestion and support the nation's productivity and growth. The conference heard that, they were interested in what I had to say and they were interested in the role that the coalition is playing on our seas, at our ports and via road and rail to markets—markets which I have to say are increasing following last week's historic Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement, as well as Minister Robb's three preferential trade deals that he has brokered with South Korea, Japan and China. It is going to place an increasing demand on our ports and, indeed, on our shipping system to make sure that we get all those valuable services and valuable goods, particularly from the Riverina, to the markets where they need to go. When I say 'services', the TPP and the three preferential trade agreements enhance our ability to sell our services, such as our education and medical services, to overseas destinations. In particular, the Melbourne to Brisbane inland rail project will meet future transport needs and ensure that Australia has the logistical muscle and infrastructure backbone that we need.

It is important that this legislation pass. The purpose of the Shipping Legislation Amendment Bill 2015 is to amend the Coastal Trading (Revitalising Australian Shipping) Act 2012 and the Shipping Registration Act 1981. The amendments will establish a framework of entitlements for seafarers on foreign vessels engaging in or intending to operate in coastal shipping for more than 183 days. Technically speaking, the amendments will apply the existing part B of the Seagoing Industry Award 2010 to seafarers on vessels that engage predominantly in coastal shipping when the Fair Work Act 2009 applies to them. Where a vessel trades for more than 183 days, contrary to what was indicated in a permit, the amendments will enable an enforcement mechanism for seafarers to recover payments.

This legislation is important, and the House is aware that we need a strong shipping industry to have a well-balanced freight and transport network. Australia's current industry regulations fall well short of meeting our needs for competitive and efficient shipping. I told the conference last week that the fleet of major Australian-registered ships with coastal licences is in sharp decline, from 30 vessels in 2006-07 to just 15 in 2013-14. Between 2000 and 2012, while the volume of freight across Australia actually grew by 57 per cent, shipping's share of the national freight task fell from about 27 per cent to just under 17 per cent. Perhaps the most troubling statistic of all is the 63 per cent decline in the carrying capacity of the Australian coastal trading fleet since 2012. The case for reform is therefore crystal clear, and we as the coalition have taken a major step towards it.

In June this year, the Deputy Prime Minister, the Leader of the Nationals, the member for Wide Bay, introduced the Shipping Legislation Amendment Bill 2015 into parliament. The bill seeks to ensure that Australian businesses and industries can take maximum advantage of the opportunities created by global connectivity. We all know that the world is becoming smaller. We all know that, thanks to the coalition government and thanks to the trading arrangements put in place by Mr Robb, we have trading arrangements that would not have been possible had Labor continued to be in government. They were in power for six years and nothing happened. Now, with the coalition in government, we have people who understand business and understand how important it is to not just trade amongst ourselves—that we need overseas partners to buy our goods and, indeed, that we need to have trade arrangements in place whereby we export more than we import. That is absolutely happening under this government. This bill addresses key challenges that Labor's 2012 legislation created.

The central feature of our legislation is a single, streamlined permit for all ships—Australian and foreign—operating along our coastline, replacing the existing three-tiered licence system. With domestic freight growing exponentially, our shipping network has to carry a larger share of the load. That is perfectly understandable. Industries relying on shipping say the coastal trading act is a barrier to competition and market entry by foreign ships. Evidence supplied by shippers shows that this act has increased the price of coastal shipping services, hitting Australian businesses hard and adding regulatory burdens without improving the viability of Australian shipping or the quality of shipping services. Isn't that just typical Labor.

Bell Bay Aluminium reports a 63 per cent increase in shipping freight rates from Tasmania to Queensland in just the first year of Labor's regime, from $18.20 a tonne in 2011 to $29.70 a tonne in 2012. But they would not understand that over there and, worse, would not care. So many of them are just ex-union hacks. I appreciate that unions are important—I do. I was a member of a union for 21 years, but they just take it too far. They get their riding instructions from the CFMEU, blindly come into this place and it is all about the letter of the union law. That is how they operate. It runs in their DNA in everything they do. Everything they bring to this place is so obstructionist and so union-fed.

We know that the cost of shipping dry food powder from Melbourne to Brisbane is the same as shipping the same product from Melbourne to Singapore. Clearly, that is absolutely ridiculous. It is cheaper to ship sugar from Thailand to Australia than it is to ship Australian sugar around our own coastline. Again, that is crazy and self-defeating for the shipping industry, let alone our sugar industry and local manufacturers. I know how fiercely the member for Dawson represents our sugar growers. The extra cost for Australian businesses using an Australian vessel is outlandish and unsustainable at some $5 million a year more than using a foreign vessel.

Mr Feeney interjecting—

So reform is required—the member for Batman knows that—to simplify the rules and to reduce the cost to business. Even the member for Batman would understand that it is important and that reform is necessary.

Mr Feeney interjecting—

He carps away, but even he knows that reform is necessary. That is why the Shipping Legislation Amendment Bill is before the House. That is why it should be supported by both sides of the House, but it will not be supported by those on the other side because they are so obstructionist. Thankfully, it will be supported by those on this side.

See this speech in context