Call for support for ship campaign

Date: 07 August 2009

The Maritime Union is calling for support for its campaign to have the Rudd Government adopt reforms to support Australian shipping on our coast in place of foreign flagged vessels and guest workers on our domestic freight routes

A reform package is expected to go to cabinet in the next month.

The union campaign centres around a mass mailout to the Minister for Transport and Infrastructure Anthony Albanese featured on the home page of the MUA website alongside a film clip of MUA National Secretary Paddy Crumlin and crew of the Australian ship Goliath calling for action.

"We're not asking for special favours, we're not asking for handouts," said Paddy Crumlin.

"We're looking for long term investment in probably one of the biggest infrastructure projects that our country needs - shipping."

All but one per cent of world trade is carried by ship. Australia has the 5th largest shipping task in the world making up 10 per cent of world seaborne trade, with 3700 ship visits annually along a 36,000 kilometres coastline. Yet for more than a decade no investment has been made in the industry.

"Let's get a proper industry that runs around Australia which is completely surrounded by water," said Tom White.

"We've got to get a move on," said Paddy Crumlin. "We're on the bones of our arses now and we've got to get a move on."

MUA national secretary Paddy Crumlin warns Australia will face an impossible task to meet a national freight target tipped to double by 2020 and triple by 2050, unless it made a new national shipping policy an urgent priority.

He called on the Federal Government to adopt a comprehensive package of regulatory reforms and fiscal support without delay.

"The reality is you can't be taken seriously in the international arena, whether it's the UN, the IMO or the ILO, if you haven't got a shipping fleet," he said. "We urgently need a shipping policy. It can't wait. There is no better time to engage than at the bottom of the cycle. We are the conveyor belts of domestic transport infrastructure. We need to invest in ships."

The Rudd government recognised the need for revitalising shipping by commissioning an inquiry into coastal shipping, appointing the national secretary as one of nine industry representatives on the Shipping Policy Advisory Group. The group has reported back and it is now a matter of the policy being adopted by government.

Key recommendations that the MUA wants the government to act on include:

• The promotion of Australian flagged and crewed ships in the domestic transport sector

• Effective tax incentives for the industry to invest in new ships

• Training for new seafarers to fill the skills shortage including a national maritime skills strategy

• Tighter regulations for coastal shipping to promote transparency and fairness of competition and guard against labour exploitation and tax avoidance by international operators

• A tonnage tax common in major shipping nations where shipping makes an essential economic contribution

• PAYE tax reform for Australian crew on international voyages

• A Shipping Industry Taskforce to see policy is converted into action.

As a first step in realising these aims the union is running a MAIL THE MINISTER campaign on the website, reaching its initial goal of 500 messages in the first week. We are now aiming for 1000.

And in the run up to the policy going to cabinet for approval the union is emailing a vodcast of its film to Labor MPs

Check out the new MUA website and join the campaign for Australian shipping.

Watch the crew of the Goliath join National Secretary Paddy Crumlin in calling on the government for urgent reform.

Get on board and MAIL THE MINISTER your support for the Australian flagged fleet and Australian jobs.

Then email your mates to come aboard.
http://www.mua.org.au/campaigns/

For further information

Contact:	Zoe Reynolds
Union:	Maritime Union of Australia
Phone:	0417 229873
WWW:	http://www.mua.org.au/

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