Glenn Sterle (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I wish to comment on the government response to the Rural, Regional Affairs and Transport References Committee report entitled Increasing use of so-called Flag of Convenience shipping in Australiaand move:

That the Senate take note of the document.

The government has finally come back with, let's say, a response. This inquiry had gone on for about 18 months. It was a very interesting inquiry by the Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport References Committee. Senator O'Sullivan and I found ourselves at many meetings on this important topic. It started with, I think, a report by Four Corners or one of those shows—it was a couple of years ago—on a ship, the Sage Sagittarius, an infamous ship, which was crewed by foreign workers. I say at the outset so that everyone is clear that, at every stage of this inquiry, I had nothing against foreign workers, but I get pretty cranky when they are brought in and exploited, and they replace Australian jobs. I make no apology for that—never have, never will. Aussies must come first. It's pretty simple. I'd love to hear that side agree with me. They won't. They all just look down at their iPads or their iPhones and hope to Christ that no-one was listening and I won't single them out, but I won't single them out because they're all just as guilty as each other.

The Sage Sagittarius had Captain Salas, the Filipino captain. He is notorious. He has admitted to being a gun runner. On his watch, there were two deaths at sea on this ship: Filipino seafarers. Then there was one death when the ship was unloading back in Japan. The owners of the ship had put in a detective working under—what do you call it?

Nigel Scullion (NT, Country Liberal Party, Minister for Indigenous Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Cover.

Glenn Sterle (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Undercover, yes, thanks—and somehow, mysteriously, when the ship berthed when it was unloading, unfortunately, he was killed. We're still waiting to find out what the heck happened there. Anyway, that was the crux of it.

I'm just going to quickly go through this. There are some significant recommendations. I have spoken many, many times about this issue in many forums and many times in this place, so I won't go over much old ground, but the committee—and this was a unanimous report—put, I think, about seven or eight recommendations to the government. We said, 'This is what needs to be done.' You must remember that, back in 1992, there was a similar inquiry into ships of shame. I'm sad to inform the Senate and all those poor devils out there listening that nothing has changed.

We have a government that are doing their best—come charging down and attack me, every member of the coalition, if you think I'm lying—and doing everything they can to see the demise of the Australian shipping industry. I've said it many times. No-one has ever yelled at me and said I'm making it up, because that's what they're darn well doing. They can lie through their eyeteeth about how good they are and how they're looking after Aussies and—what was the catchcry?—jobs and growth. That's as long as they're not Australian jobs and as long as it's not in the Australian shipping industry. Where the hell are all our seafarers going to come from—our masters, our skippers, our captains? Where the heck are all our hardworking seafarers going to come from? I'll tell you where they're going to come from with that mob, the LNP, over there: they'll come from Libya, the Philippines, Iran or whatever it is. Unfortunately, that's where it's heading.

And they're not alone. They've got partners in crime. I'll tell you right now: you can put BP and Caltex in that. We used to have Australian seafarers on Australian ships plying their trade between our ports. Not anymore, people. It's all done by foreign seafarers, and that lot over there think it's great, because that lot over there think they're doing a fantastic job. One of my recommendations—it was the committee's, but I chaired it—I want to share with everyone listening. Recommendation 1 was:

The committee recommends that the Fair Work Ombudsman implement a program of inspection for ships with foreign seafarers, to verify that the wages paid on board accord with Australian legal requirements.

We're not making something up. That is what's supposed to happen. What was the response from the government? There was another recommendation I want to share too, and then I'll give you the response. The committee also recommended:

… that the Australian Government provide adequate funding to the Fair Work Ombudsman to implement an inspection program of ships with foreign crews, to assess the payment of wages.

That's pretty simple, not hard at all.

This was the government's response, everyone: 'The Australian government does not support these recommendations.' But here's the rub: 'Furthermore, the government considers that the current arrangements for compliance in the maritime sector are sufficient and the Fair Work Ombudsman is adequately funded to support these arrangements.' Crap. Let me just give you a couple of examples. Geez, I tell you: it's really hard to control myself when I start talking about the shipping industry being torn apart and Australian jobs being exported. Then they lie. Then they can't even tell the truth. They expect us to believe that they're doing this? Let me just give you a couple of classic examples here.

In December last year, there was a ship, a Bahamas-registered vessel called the Diana, which pulled up in Melbourne. The ITF did what they normally do. They got on board. Lo and behold, they found out that this Australian company owns the Diana: Canada Steamship Lines Australia—CSL. Yes, what a great company they are! I really have got my tongue firmly planted in my cheek. In fact, when I pull my tongue out, they're far from a decent Australian company, because they are absolutely guilty of underpayment of wages. The ITF found out. The ITF are prosecuting them. They are an Australian company that have replaced Australian seafarers with foreign seafarers and foreign ships. They're getting ably assisted by that lot over there. CSL Australia also have the vessels Acacia, Adelie and Diana. You know what? What a great Australian company CSL are, because they're even refusing to sign industrial agreements so their workers can be paid Australian wages and conditions! So, Government, there's one of your mates that's out there rorting it and got caught out.

Here's another one. This is why they're telling us the Fair Work Ombudsman is funded well and they're doing a great job. They're not. This goes back to April last year. This is right in the heart of the inquiry. ITF, the International Transport Workers' Federation, lassoed the Aussie charterers of:

… a Norwegian shipping company that was allegedly—

or not allegedly; in the end, that's what they did—

paying its foreign crew a pitiful—

are you ready for this?—

$1.25 an hour while working in Australian waters.

This mob of jokers over there is trying to tell the committee, who worked their backsides off talking to the industry about the deficiencies that have been around for many years—rehashing Ships of shame,from 1992—that there is nothing to see. This is typical of LNP ministers: 'Tuck it under the desk and hopefully no-one will talk about it.' Well, we're going to keep talking about it.

So let's have a look at what they did while they were ripping off these foreign workers in Australian waters. The Fair Work Ombudsman launched an action against a mob called Transpetrol TM, claiming it underpaid no fewer than 61 foreign crew members—here we go!—a total of $255,000 when they worked on the oil tanker MT Turmoil in Australian waters between 2013 and 2015. That is carting BP's and Caltex's products around, because BP and Caltex—yes, the fuel mobs who can't wait to rip into Australian motorists at every opportunity; talk about cartels!—replaced Australian manned ships, as I said earlier, with a chartered Norwegian owned ship. I have to tell you that it just irks me. These are only a couple of examples.

I can go through all these recommendations and, lo and behold, the government doesn't accept any of them. They try to rub a little bit of salt in the wound by telling me, when we are going further, about making sure that environmentally and industrially everything is Mickey Mouse. It's not Mickey Mouse. I'll talk about that too. Here's another one. There was one I saw recently, a couple of weeks ago. Eighty-odd containers fell off a ship coming into Sydney. It was a Liberian registered ship. So what? I'll tell you so what. It was heavy seas. Yes, we know these sorts of things happen. They fell off before midnight, but it was 11 o'clock the next morning before AMSA, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority, was even notified. I can tell you now: there is no way known that an Australian crewed or Australian owned ship or Australian seafarers or an Australian captain would have waited 11 or 12 hours before they thought they might decide to let AMSA know.

I'll have a lot more to say about this. I will seek leave to continue my remarks. I'm not going away. It is an absolute disgrace in our nation that the LNP government under Mr Turnbull, and previously Mr Abbott, cannot wait to wave goodbye to the Australian shipping industry, Australian seafarers and Australian ships. I've got to tell you: the Americans have the Jones Act, and it's about darned time that we had the same act—I don't care what name you call it. It's about time that we started building Australian owned, Australian built, Australian crewed ships, with Australian seafarers, Australian skippers and the whole lot. I have a lot more to say. I seek leave to continue my remarks later.

Leave granted; debate adjourned.