THE National Farmers' Federation (NFF) has slammed the federal Senate’s failure to pass legislation it believes would have introduced reforms to coastal shipping arrangements that cut freight costs.
NFF president Brent Finlay steered clear of attacking Labor, the Greens and crossbench Senators who voted against the government’s proposed legislation which was killed in the Senate last week in a 31-27 vote.
Crossbench Senators Dio Wang, Ricky Muir, Jacqui Lambie, Nick Xenophon and Glenn Lazarus voted against the Bill.
Speaking on that result, Mr Finlay said the “competitiveness reform agenda took a step backwards” as the Senate missed an opportunity to restore competition around the Australian coast.
He said competition was a key driver of economic activity, which stimulates national growth and prosperity.
“Let’s not let this set a precedent for the future of freight policy in Australia,” Mr Finlay said.
“A vibrant shipping industry is vital to a competitive agriculture sector.
“Open markets mean a more competitive economy and in the end, lower prices for consumers.
“Australia needs more efficient freight services – whether by air or sea, road or rail.
“The current cost of shipping is so prohibitive that most of the domestic freight task is carried on land, placing more pressure on our road and rail networks.”
Opposition deputy-leader and Shadow Infrastructure Minister Anthony Albanese led the charge against the Shipping Legislation Amendment Bill 2015 which passed the Lower House in mid-October before stumbling in the Senate.
Mr Albanese criticised the Turnbull government’s plans to change shipping laws to the detriment of Australian jobs.
He said the Bill’s passing would see foreign-flagged vessels paying Third World wages which would be free to undercut Australian shipping companies on domestic cargo trade.
“Australian vessels, required to pay Australian-level wages, will be unable to compete,” he said in an opinion article last month.
Last week, Mr Albanese said the Australian parliament – by defeating the Coalition’s proposal – had “thrown out WorkChoices on Water”.
“It has rejected legislation that was not in the Australian national interest – legislation that would have allowed for any foreign ship to operate around the Australian coast on the domestic freight task, paying foreign wages, which would have led to the elimination of the Australian shipping industry,” he said.
“The Senate crossbench, as well as Labor and the Greens political party overwhelmingly rejected this legislation.
“This has been a two year campaign - whereby the Coalition government has been determined to undermine the Australian industry and to see Australian workers replaced on ships around our coastline with foreign workers being paid foreign wage rates.
“It's an extraordinary proposition, which is why this legislation was opposed by industry as well as by the workforce.”
Mr Albanese said there were 1200 direct seafarer jobs but other connected jobs like rail, were threatened by the Bill.
“Companies like Sea Road in Tasmania that have invested in two new ships have said that that investment, some $200 million, was endangered by this legislation,” he said.
“So a range of jobs were under threat.
“The government simply got it wrong.
“This was ideology gone mad, this was WorkChoices on water.”
The Maritime Union Australia (MUA) said common sense prevailed with the Senate voting down the Turnbull government’s deregulation plans for Australian shipping.
MUA national secretary Paddy Crumlin said the vote sent a strong message that Australian jobs and industries should be front and centre of policy making.
“Had they passed, the government’s changes raised serious questions on national security, fuel security, jobs and skills and protection of our environment,” he said.
Senator Wang said after consultations on the Bill with union representatives and the federal opposition he welcomed commitments from both parties towards roundtable negotiations between government, industry and workers to rebuild a competitive and efficient Australian shipping industry.
“While it is important for our nation that Australia retains a coastal shipping industry, there is clear agreement that reform is desperately needed to address the decline and rebuild Australian shipping,” he said.
“Everyone – unions, workers, government and industry – needs to sit down at the table to ensure this vital sector survives and provides our nation with an efficient and sustainable service for generations to come.”
But Assistant Trade Minister Richard Colbeck said Labor's changes had caused “less freight, fewer ships and less employment”.
He said the costs imposed on all Australian industries that used those coastal shipping services “have not done anything to save the Australian coastal shipping industry, as Labor promised when they passed the legislation”.
“Between 2000 and 2012 the shipping industry's share of Australian freight fell from 27 per cent to just under 17pc while the volume of freight across Australia actually grew by 57pc,” he said.
“What Labor's laws did was take freight off the coastal shipping routes and put it onto the roads of Australia.”
“Labor's laws have inflated costs and made it more difficult for Australian industry to compete within Australia.”
Senator Colbeck said it was cheaper to bring sugar from Thailand into the Australian market than from Queensland, “so the Australian sugar industry is locked out of the Australian market”.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development Warren Truss said the “scuttling of the changes by the Senate threatens thousands of Australian jobs, both on land and sea”.
“Our current shipping laws are putting at risk the viability of many land-based industries dependent on domestic transport services,” he said.
“This decision is a missed opportunity to implement a single, streamlined permit for all ships, replacing the cumbersome three-tier system currently in place.
“The legislation would have also allowed Australian and foreign ships to be treated equally and removed significant costs from the regulatory framework.”