Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Employment) Share this | Hansard source

The Deputy Prime Minister never said that about any job loss in this country. The Deputy Prime Minister is a man who is dedicated, along with the rest of the government team, to doing everything possible to grow job opportunities for our fellow Australians. In relation to the Alexander Spirit of which the honourable senator speaks, what she does not tell the Australian people or the Senate is that this ship has come from a foreign port and is delivering into Australia. It is not engaged in coastal trading. That is where Senator Urquhart, along with her friends from the Maritime Union of Australia, seeks to mislead the Australian people.

If any ship has replaced its crew with a foreign crew, and if what Senator Urquhart says is correct, do you know under what law it was done? It was done under the laws that the Labor Party and Greens forced through this place without proper debate and discussion. It is being done under Labor-Green laws. Indeed two of the ships, including the Alexander Spirit, even when it was engaged in coastal trading—