Janet Rice (Victoria, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I also wish to take note of document 55, the report of the inquiry into Australian shipping. I wish to thank Senator Sterle, to begin with, for his passion and his commitment to making sure that the issue of shipping stays on the agenda of this Senate. In the 6½ years I've been here and I've been the transport spokesperson for the Greens, shipping has continued to be an issue that has been dealt with atrociously by this government. We have seen the decline of Australian shipping. We have seen ongoing issues of severe exploitation of overseas workers who are working on foreign owned ships. We have seen proper conditions, proper wages, proper—good—jobs in Australian shipping just go down the gurgler. And it doesn't need to be this way. There are plenty of other countries in the world that have got similar environments to Australia where they manage to maintain a profitable shipping industry that employs workers under decent conditions and manages to make the most of the benefits of shipping, of it being a really good way of shifting goods domestically and internationally.

But this government have had their head in the sand about the reforms that are necessary to make that happen. When the Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison government came to power in 2013, we'd just had a change to shipping arrangements, which was an attempt to change things, but there were some problems with those arrangements—they needed some change. But rather than sitting down with the Maritime Union of Australia, the shipping industry and all of the various stakeholders and nutting out what needed to happen to reform Australian shipping so it would work, look after the workers and businesses, and make the most of the benefits of shipping, they've just pursued a deregulation agenda. They were happy to see Australian owned shipping go down the gurgler and all of our shipping in the hands of foreign run ships with incredibly exploited labour.

We've seen the absolutely awful situation of the maritime workers who have been stuck on a coal ship outside of China for months and months and months. They've been left there as the meat in the sandwich. The conditions that they're employed under are appalling, but no-one really cares what happens to those workers; they are seen as expendable. The fact is they have been there, suffering, but the attitude is: 'Oh well, that's just what happens. We've got trade disputes between Australia and China and the workers don't really matter.' That's the state of foreign owned shipping that this government seems to say is acceptable and that this government wants to see more of. It's unacceptable. We can do it differently, and this Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Committee report outlines recommendations on how to do it differently. With the submissions the committee received and the hearings with of all of the players in the industry, it outlines some ways forward which are agreed upon by a whole range of stakeholders.

I urge the government and Minister McCormack to actually sit down and have a really good read of this report. Think about what needs to happen if we are going to be serious about having a shipping industry that looks after workers, that thrives, that is there in fair competition with our rail and road industries rather than the current situation which is bad for everyone. It really upsets me because things could be done differently if there were a willingness to sit down, work with the various stakeholders, implement recommendations and move forward in a sensible, sustainable and ethical way. I seek leave to continue my remarks.

Leave granted; debate adjourned.