Australian shipping under attack

Defence of the Australian shipping industry and cabotage were 
at the top of the agenda when the Maritime Union of Australia's 
national council met in Sydney last week. Some 30 councillors, 
national officers and guests from around the country and across 
the Tasman attended the five-day meeting at the union's national 
office in Sydney.

The political colour of the hefty Productivity Commission's 
latest Review of National Competition Policy Reforms 400-page 
discussion paper is unmistakeable. Cabotage and the Australian 
shipping industry are under attack.

"The Australian Government has yet to review cabotage 
arrangements that continue to limit overseas competitors' access 
to Australia's coastal shipping trade", the report said. "The 
majority of coastal shipping is still carried by Australian-
registered vessels at freight rates which are very high by 
international standards. Such high rates inevitably deter some 
otherwise efficient usage of coastal shipping", the report said.

"Even though the reference is buried, the intent is clear. Clear 
and present as they say. It's all about replacing Australian 
seafarers with foreign guest labour and replacing a strategically 
critical Australian industry, Australian business and workers 
operating under Australian laws with the anarchy of unregulated 
shipping interests that dominate international trades", said MUA 
National Secretary Paddy Crumlin.

"No mucking around with this, we need to throw everything we've 
got at it. It's again clear that this union is a target of the 
ultra right, the HR Nicholls Society and the Howard Government", 
said Mr Crumlin.

"We are a strong and militant union; we have to stay a social 
force and a political force. This union is not just about wages 
and conditions. It's about human rights. It's about genuine 
national interest. And the international solidarity we've created 
is going to make it harder for them to get up their Trojan horse 
and lay siege to Australian labour standards."

The union has enlisted the support of the International Transport 
Workers' Federation (ITF) and the ACTU, industry leaders and 
academics in preparation for the launch of a full-scale shipping 
campaign.