Coastal Trading (Revitalising Australian Shipping) Amendment Bill 2017

The majority voted against amendment (3) introduced by Grayndler MP Anthony Albanese (Labor), which means they failed.

What did this amendment do?

Mr Albanese explained that:

Amendment (3) is to omit schedule 1, item 15, page 5, lines 20 to 23. Section 6(1) of the Coastal Trading Act currently defines 'voyage' as the 'movement of a vessel from one port to another port'. That definition shouldn't be all that surprising. The bill proposes to amend this definition to remove the reference to movement from one port to another port, effectively extending the definition of a voyage to include voyages that don't really go anywhere, that start and finish at the same port. The explanatory memorandum says that the purpose of this amendment is to:

… open the coastal trading regime to chartered recreational vessels that typically embark and disembark at the same port …

In practice, this definitional change is likely to harm existing, more traditional sections of the domestic maritime industry. It would open the way for foreign transhipment and bunker barge operators to apply for temporary licences to work around the Australian coast. Currently, the companies performing these activities, which usually begin and end in the same port, are Australian based and employ Australian seafarers. But once again we see a government that doesn't seem to worry about whether there are Australian jobs and Australians being employed or whether, effectively, we're offshoring those jobs and thereby contracting the Australian industry.

Amendment text

(3) Schedule 1, item 15, page 5 (lines 20 to 23), omit the item.