9 minute read
Strategic Fleet
Strategic fleet
When the Labor leader came to Newcastle to relaunch a policy for a strategic fleet three generations of maritime workers were there to welcome him
As Labor leader Anthony Albanese stood in an Akubra under the glaring sun at Newcastle Bulk Liquids Berth Mayfield 7, on January 4, maritime workers young and old were there to greet him.
Alongside Catherine King, Shadow Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development and local member Sharon Claydon, stood Gordon Wilson, 90, son Colin and grandson Jordan – representing three generations of seafarers.
Also present were Ben Sirasch, a local seafarer sacked at sea from the MV Mariloula and local MUA member Liam Kelly. Wharfie Angela Moore, from Australian Stevedores, brought her daughter, Mia proudly wearing a union t-shirt and partner Dana Crampton, marine engineer on the David Allan port dredge.
Fred Krausert, president of the MUA vets stood tall alongside Branch Secretary Glen Williams, Assistant National Secretary Jamie Newlyn, National Officer Mich-Elle Myers and tug worker Anthony Andrews.
“Everyone here was pretty excited,” said Glen Williams. “We’ve seen ship after ship after ship go off the coast due to the abuse of the coastal permit system. It was good to hear a plan to get Australian flagged, crewed and owned vessels back.”
Williams said the timing of the preelection announcement was critical.
“The world is in crisis,” he said. “With war in Ukraine and no Australian tankers or refineries available the price of fuel could go through the roof. The whole supply chain is in crisis. The lack of an Australian fleet is a glaring hole in our national security.”
The Labor leader confirmed his commitment to a strategic fleet first announced by the then opposition leader Bill Shorten on board the Victorian Reliance II in Melbourne
It was just before the last national election which few expected Labor to lose.
Albanese said the government “seems to have sat back and watched while foreign crews have been marched onto ships, as Australian workers have been sacked, and the Australian flag has been replaced.”
“There are other issues as well, of course,” he added. “All of the incidents around Australia’s coasts that have involved, potentially, environmental disasters, including on the reef, have all involved foreign flagged ships.”
“Australian seafarers, with those skills and that local knowledge, understand the coast. They understand our ports. They understand how to work around the activity in order to ensure protection of the natural environment here as well.”
But there will be no champagne over the bow of the strategy without a change of government.
“Albo’s Strategic Fleet announcement will continue the unfinished business of the last Federal Labor Government,” tweeted Jamie Newlyn. “But it will have no chance of success if we don’t fight to elect a Labor Government.”
In his previous role as transport minister under the Rudd/Gillard Labor governments, Albanese had worked with the union and industry to revamp the Navigation Act and revitalise Australian flagged and crewed shipping. Albanese told National Council in November last year he considers the job unfinished business.
The announcement of Labor’s shipping policy in January was welcomed by the union.
In a media release MUA National Secretary Paddy Crumlin lauded the decision to restore Australia’s domestic shipping sector and guarantee our national trading and shipping capacity in times of crisis or national disaster.
As an island nation, Australia has always depended on coastal and international shipping, the statement read.
“But under successive Liberal Prime Ministers the Coalition Government has failed the nation by allowing our domestic maritime capability to be eroded to the point where our supply chains are held totally hostage to decision-making by international shipping cartels and other countries’ political leaders.”
If a Labor government is elected, cabotage, a legislative instrument restricting the operation of coastal trading to locally registered or operated ships will be back in force.
- Paddy Crumlin
“When it comes to maintaining essential maritime supply lines to this country, we cannot allow ourselves to be held hostage to international shippers whose priorities lie elsewhere” Crumlin said. “Scott Morrison was quick to blow his own trumpet over the plan to build a fleet of nuclear submarines by 2040, but re-establishing a national strategic fleet is an even more pressing issue that he has completely failed to act on.”
The union highlighted successive Coalition governments’ indifference to safety standards and modern-day slaves who crew many ships trading with Australia. •
Labor’s plan for a Strategic fleet
An Albanese Labor Government will strengthen Australia’s economic sovereignty and national security by rebuilding an independent Strategic Fleet to secure our ongoing access to fuel supplies and other essential imports.
More than most nations, Australia is dependent on seaborne trade.
Shipping accounts for 90 per cent of the international goods trade but 99 per cent of our imports and exports of goods, including fuel.
Despite this, Australia is now in a situation where less than half a per cent of our seaborne trade is carried by Australian ships, forcing us to reply on foreign governments and companies for our essential imports.
In times of conflict and crisis, our economic sovereignty and national security are dependent on Australian seafarers working on Australian ships.
Protecting and growing Australia’s maritime sector and seafaring workforce is vital to our economic sovereignty and national security.
Three generations of Australian seafarers: Gordon Wilson, 90, son Colin and grandson Jordan alongside Albanese
That’s why an Albanese Labor Government will protect Australia and rebuild our strategic fleet.
This announcement forms a part of Labor’s plan for a Future Made in Australia, creating jobs and building industries.
Other elements of this plan include the National Reconstruction Fund, the National Rail Manufacturing Plan and the Defence Industry Development Strategy.
What’s the problem?
Over the past 30 years, the number of Australian-flagged vessels has shrunk from 100 to less than 20 – and it is in our national interest to change that. For the past eight years the Morrison- Joyce Government has stood idle as large multinationals dumped Australian flagged and crewed vessels so they could hire overseas crews.
This has destroyed the jobs of Australian seafarers and created a situation where none of the vessels our nation relies upon to deliver its essential supplies of crude oil, aviation fuel and diesel are registered in this country or crewed by Australians. The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed weaknesses in our supply chains and highlighted our current dependence on foreign suppliers and transporters for our key commodities.
The sorry episode of the MV Portland in 2016 was emblematic of the Coalition’s undermining of Australian shipping and Australian seafarers and has had a lasting impact on the industry. The loss of Australian fuel refining capabilities – prompting the Coalition to inject up to $2billion into the industry to guarantee sovereign refining capability, albeit for only a few years – further underscores the importance of rebuilding a sovereign shipping capability to secure our supply chains.
The pandemic has shown us how vulnerable supply chains can be to external events, while the risk of global or regional conflict leaves us vulnerable to the actions of foreign powers.
Without a strategic fleet, Australia’s essential supply lines – including fuel imports – are vulnerable to the decisions of foreign governments or the whims of international shipping companies.
With 99 per cent of our imports coming by sea, it is essential that Australia has its own sovereign, independent maritime capability on which we can safely rely.
Labor’s Plan
An Albanese Labor Government will enhance Australia’s economic sovereignty and national security by creating a Maritime Strategic Fleet to secure our access to fuel supplies and other critical resources, even in times of global instability.
These vessels will be Australian flagged and Australian crewed.
We expect the vessels will be privately owned and operated on a commercial basis, they will be available for requisition by the Defence Forces in times of national need, whether that be natural disaster or times of conflict.
As a first step towards establishing a strategic fleet, an incoming Albanese Labor Government will appoint a Taskforce to guide it on the establishment of the Fleet as quickly as possible. The Fleet is likely to include up to a dozen vessels including tankers, cargo, container and roll-on-roll-off vessels.
This Taskforce will include representatives from the shipping industry, major charterers, unions, Australian business representatives and the Department of Defence.
An Albanese Labor government will act immediately to close loopholes in the existing regulatory framework to help rebuild Australian shipping. The Taskforce will also advise on how best to enforce existing coastal shipping laws and what legislative or regulatory reforms are necessary to reinvigorate Australian shipping.
Investment in our plan
An Albanese Labor Government will establish a taskforce – including representatives from the shipping industry, unions, business and the Department of Defence – that will provide advice on the composition of the fleet and any public support required. We expect that the fleet will be privately owned and commercially operated with some support from the Government.
This will ensure that in times of national crisis or disaster there are Australian flagged and crewed ships ready to assist. •
Labor leader Anthony Albanese highlighted Labor’s commitment to create an Australian crewed and flagged Strategic Fleet in his budget reply speech in Parliament on March 30. It was, in his own words “the first ever mention of shipping in a budget speech. “I believe in it and I will deliver,” he later texted the union.
See the clip on MUA FaceBook https://fb.watch/ c63npPygH0/
Albanese stands by sacked seafarers Ben Sirasch and Liam Kelly
