The new Australian government today laid out plans towards the creation of a national fleet, something vehemently opposed by the local shipowning association.
A new taskforce has been appointed to speed up the creation of an Australian-flagged and crewed fleet.
Infrastructure, transport, regional development and local government minister Catherine King said: “Establishing a strategic fleet made up of Australian flagged and crewed vessels was a key commitment of our government during the election, and we are moving quickly to deliver on it.”
King said it was vital Australia had a “robust” supply chain, in comments that quickly attracted criticism from Shipping Australia, the country’s shipowners’ association.
“Many of the policy goals put forward for the development of a national fleet can be achieved at a lower cost by other methods or simply do not stack up,” argued Melwyn Noronha, the CEO of Shipping Australia. Workforce skilling can be addressed through education, training, cadetships on globally trading vessels, and immigration, Noronha suggested.
Sam, “somewhat vehemently opposed” by the organisation representing OVERSEAS shipowners/operators and their agents (the intentionally misleadingly-named Shipping Australia). Maritime Industry Australia Ltd, representing LOCAL interests, is a key backer of the strategic fleet initiative.
Cheers
Dale Crisp
Very saddened to read this comment Dale.
Shipping Australia’s membership is open to all ocean shipping companies working in Australia, both domestic and international. We have many iconic Australian businesses in our corporate membership. MIAL also has many large overseas companies in its members. It is also not a shipping focused association as it is attempting to represent the wider maritime industry in Australia including oil and gas interests and smaller, non-freight, companies. That’s not a criticism of either organisation, it’s just a comment accurately representing both what Shipping Australia and MIAL actually are.
So Sam is quite right to describe Shipping Australia as “the country’s shipowners’ association”, because we are.
We oppose the policy because history, and economics, shows it is most unlikely to succeed. Our round-up of the history can be found at: “Shipping Australia cautions against government support for protectionist maritime policies” – https://www.shippingaustralia.com.au/shipping-australia-cautions-against-government-support-for-protectionist-maritime-policies/
On the economics side, there have also been two Productivity Commission reports (one final and one draft) that have poured cold water on the idea as being highly distortionary to the local market and too costly.
The “local shipowning association” mentioned here is an oxymoron. Serving “local” interest is not in their DNA. Their interest is in protecting the profits of foreign shipowners, who have had a long holiday off the backs of the Australian people. It is time Australia as well as other nations take stock in their own national and economic interest for the betterment of their citizenry.
Firstly, we are the local shipowning association. Our primary class of members is shipowners and operators. Anyone who owns / operates ships or tugs, or is a ship agent working in Australia, can join our primary membership. We are based in Australia. Our Secretariat is Australian. Our members employ over 3,000 Australians. We have iconic Australian businesses in our members. Our members provide services in Australia. Our members handle nearly all of Australia’s container trades. We are Australian. We represent shipping in Australia. We are the “local shipowning association”. The National Fleet policy is most unlikely to work – see “Shipping Australia cautions against government support for protectionist maritime policies”, https://www.shippingaustralia.com.au/shipping-australia-cautions-against-government-support-for-protectionist-maritime-policies/
Years ago it was the National Farmers Federation that vehmently opposed Aus Flagged vessels , now it out very own ship owners (of which there are none) also oppose this very much needed facet of our sovereignty . This conglomerate MUST be disbanded and revamped by people with brains , not by the current moronic “trickle down imbeciles”
Shipping Australia does not oppose Australian flagged vessels. We welcome any ship owner, or ship operator, who chooses to flag in Australia. We would merely point out that there is currently no ship registered on the Australian International Shipping Register nor has there ever been a ship registered on the Australian International Shipping Register.
We would also point out that, as it stands today, there is no barrier or impediment of any kind to prevent any shipowner from anywhere in the world from registering under the Australian flag. Yet they are not doing so nor have they ever done so. Why is that?
Meanwhile, we are opposed to any nationalistic shipping policy that will likely make it more difficult or costly for shipowners to provide services to Australia as this will reduce the wellbeing of all Australians. We also object to the expenditure of taxpayer money on a policy that – if history is any guide – is most likely going to be unsuccessful.
In relation to your penultimate points about being “moronic” and lacking in brains, well, we do have to concede that. We do concede that we are quite cognitively impaired when compared to the average!
Have a great day!
Australian ship owners association puts profits before Australian interests. They promote slave labour & sit on boards to manipulate shipping conventions. Anti Australian unions and Anti Australian. Have a look into their commitment towards Australian seafarers start with any Australian resource you like.