Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party, Shadow Minister for International Development and the Pacific) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Special Recreational Vessels Amendment Bill 2023 is so vitally important because we need and want and, indeed, deserve to have superyachts visiting our shores for all the reasons I set out last night, as well as the fact it just makes good economic sense. The former coalition government introduced the Special Recreational Vessels Bill in 2019. This allowed foreign owned superyachts to charter in Australia. Before that time, much of the money that would have been otherwise gained by this nation was lost to other nations.

Don't just take my word for it; the Maritime Executive published an online article on 27 November 2019 that spelled out the benefits of having superyachts visit our shores. The article stated:

The move is expected to unlock an estimated 11,800 jobs and A$1.64 billion—

That's 1.64 thousand million dollars—

in revenue to the Australian economy by 2021.

I know that, between the passage of the bill in 2019 and now, we had the worldwide pandemic, and that caused mayhem, chaos, dysfunction and disruption to travelling, to tourism, to people going from one nation to another. Whether it was airlines—and I just had James Goodwin from the Australian Airports Association at a joint select committee, discussing the hardships that the aviation sector faced. I thanked him, as the transport minister at the time, for the efforts and advice and for the time and trouble he went to, as did the AAA, to ensure that we, as much as we could, worked together to keep airports functioning smoothly.

Charter vessels make up more than half the world's superyacht fleet. As the Maritime Executive explained, there are currently more than 5,000 superyachts in the world. This number increases by an additional 150 new yachts annually:

Previously these vessels could not operate commercially in Australia unless they fully imported the vessel, which was a major deterrent to foreign superyacht owners considering cruising Australian waters.

That's what the Maritime Executive said at the time:

Australians dominate the superyacht industry with over a quarter of the world's Captains and crew, over 14,000 people, hailing from the nation.

This is what the Maritime Executive wrote.

The CEO of Superyacht Australia, David Good, welcomed the news of the bill moving through the parliament and said, 'Now is the critical time to act.' He commended the government at the time for introducing the bill, and he wrote:

Huge events in the Pacific over the next 18 months will mean large numbers of superyachts will be in our region.

He wasn't to know then, as we know now, of the difficulties with COVID-19.

But this is really interesting. This is what the article stated:

The main industries that will benefit will be tradespeople and small businesses, says Superyacht Australia, as each vessel spends 10 to 12 percent of the vessel's value each year in maintenance, service and repairs.

The likely change to legislation will allow Australia to catch up to our neighbors who all have booming superyacht economies, says Good. New Zealand, Fiji and Tahiti enjoy thriving marine industries, dominated by charter vessels.

It's not, as the member for Ryan contended last night—no doubt she's back in the chamber to hear my continuation of this speech—just a playing area for billionaires. It is not. It is about tradespeople and small businesses. If there is one sector of the economy that we need to look after—and I appreciate Labor are on board with this legislation—it is small business, because they are the engine room of the economy. They are people who have put up with so much in recent years—fires, floods, droughts, COVID—yet they are so resilient. If we can help them through the passage of this legislation, I say well and good. I know the Greens will probably oppose it. They oppose everything, but that's the Greens' way.

I'll just finish with these remarks from Peter John Lyne. Under an Australian flag, which is his little motto for comments that he puts on the Maritime Executive website, he said, in 2019:

Not before time! Once the Bill is promulgated it will certainly encourage invigorating competition for all aspects of the yacht charter business provided the revenue gained does not go off shore.

We don't want it to go offshore. That's why the passage of this bipartisan bill is so important, because it's keeping money onshore. It's actually attracting investment to Australia for tradespeople, as the Maritime Executive says, and, probably more importantly, for the small businesses of this nation.

Kristy McBain (Eden-Monaro, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Territories) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to start by thanking all members for their contributions to this debate and for their support of the Special Recreational Vessels Amendment Bill 2023. I want to specifically acknowledge the members for Forde, Riverina and Ryan for their contributions to the debate to date.

The Special Recreational Vessels Act 2019 is due to sunset on 30 June 2023. An extension of the repeal date is necessary to enable these vessels to continue to come to Australia and to offer charters. Put quite simply, it is a common-sense approach to deal with the necessity that we have in front of us. As the member for Riverina has said, so many of these superyachts provide tourism dollars—into our regions most specifically. They support small businesses along the coast and they allow people to come into our regions, as we want them to, and explore the parts of the country that we probably take for granted quite frequently.

The bill supports charters continuing on the Australian coast until we deal with a long-term regulatory solution. Prior to the introduction of the Special Recreational Vessels Act in 2019, special recreational vessels visited our Pacific neighbours but would bypass Australia, which was not good for us and not good for tourism as a whole. The Australian government put the act in place to allow these special recreational vessels, known as superyachts, to charter in Australian waters and to realise the opportunities they bring for hospitality, for tourism providers, for suppliers and for our regional communities. Providing new possibilities for these businesses and communities is even more important now on the back of COVID-19, supply chain issues, droughts, floods and fires.

The bill provides certainty for businesses, particularly in our regional coastal communities. They will continue to benefit from special recreational vessels that charter here, helping Australians to take advantage of the industry. I look forward to continuing to work with the owners of these superyachts as we move towards a longer-term regulatory solution.

Alicia Payne (Canberra, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The question is that the bill be now read a second time.

Question unresolved.

As the question is unresolved, in accordance with standing order 188 the question will be included in the Federation Chamber's report to the House on the bill.