David Pocock (ACT, Independent) | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate take note of the answer given by the Minister representing the Minister for Transport (Senator Farrell) to a question without notice I asked today relating to the maritime industry.

We didn't learn much in the answer today, and that's fair enough. It wasn't the actual minister; it was the representing minister. But I do think the Carnival Cruise Lines exemption from Australian labour laws raises an ethical question for us as Australians.

This is a company that operates cruise ships here in Australia. They don't seem to pay tax here. They pay tax in the UK and are so exempt because they have an agreement with the UK government. They clearly bring in tourism revenue. They're economically important. But we need to be asking the question: does that justify allowing them to be based here in Australia, operate in Australian waters and still pay their crews, potentially, as low as $2.50 an hour?

This is something that we should be thinking about as a country. Does the economic importance, the tourism revenue, mean that we're willing to pay foreign nationals on cruise ships in Australian waters $2.50 an hour? I assume this cruise company has said something like, 'If we can't do that, it won't be competitive, and we won't bring our cruise ships here.' I think this is a genuine conundrum. But, I think, at the core, there's an ethical question about whether or not, as Australians, we will stand for a company that is paying foreign nationals operating in Australia, in Australian waters, $2.50 an hour. I don't agree with that, so I look forward to hearing more from the government, and I appreciate Minister Farrell's undertaking to find out more.

Question agreed to.