Australia\u2019s new coastal shipping laws are \u201canti-competitive\u201d and are \u201churting Australian producers\u201d the Institute of Public Affairs has warned and has urged the Abbott government to repeal them.<\/p>\n
\u201cCoastal shipping has become less competitive due to the Labor government\u2019s 2009 changes that imposed Australian award wages on foreign vessels employing foreign crews,\u201d said Aaron Lane, a research fellow at the Institute specialising in economics and industrial relations.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe 2012 changes introduced around 250 pages of new legislation. Flexibility is critical for the coastal shipping industry, yet changes to the laws have increased the burden of red tape on coastal shipping vessels,\u201d Mr Lane argued.<\/p>\n
He has recently authored a report, released by the Institute in the days before Christmas, titled: \u201cCoastal Shipping Reform: Industry saviour or regulatory nightmare?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Mr Lane reviewed a variety of position papers and submissions from industry before concluding that the Australian economy has suffered a loss of between $76m and $150m as a result of coastal trading reforms. He also criticised the basis of the reforms \u2013 that of boosting the Australian flag. He argued that the focus of the reforms ought to have been on increasing the efficiency of commodities transport.<\/p>\n Australian Shipowners Association (ASA) Executive Director, Teresa Lloyd, described Mr Lane\u2019s report as \u201cdisappointing\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat is frustrating, however, is when well resourced, research specialists fail to apply their considerable expertise to providing a proper, thorough analysis that takes into account the sophisticated intellectual arguments that are required for meaningful debate on complex issues such as shipping.\u201d<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Australian lawyer, Robert Springall, has since described the effects of the coastal trading package as a \u201cdisaster\u201d. \u201cIn practical terms, the main effect of the new legislation appears to have been to allow general licence holders operating on the Australian coast to hold the Australian industry to ransom,\u201d Mr Springall asserted.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Australia\u2019s new coastal shipping laws are \u201canti-competitive\u201d and are \u201churting Australian producers\u201d the Institute of Public Affairs has warned and has urged the Abbott government to repeal them. \u201cCoastal shipping has become less competitive due to the Labor government\u2019s 2009 changes that imposed Australian award wages on foreign vessels employing foreign crews,\u201d said Aaron Lane, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[35,28],"tags":[52,53],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n