CATHERINE KING & CAROL BROWN – MEDIA RELEASE – WORLD MARITIME DAY – THURSDAY, 30 SEPTEMBER 2021

Today is World Maritime Day.

More than most nations, Australia is dependent on our merchant marine and seafarers.

Shipping accounts for 80 per cent of international trade but 99 per cent of our imports and exports of goods, including fuel.

Our economic sovereignty and national security are dependent on having more Australian seafarers working on more Australian ships.

Despite this, Australia is now in a situation where less than half a per cent of our seaborne trade is carried by Australian ships. 

For eight long 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.

By comparison, Norway has 519 vessels carrying the Norwegian flag, the United Kingdom has 1157 flagged vessels and China has 4608 flagged vessels.

The theme for this year’s event is ‘Seafarers at the core of shipping’s future’.

Without seafarers, the modern world would come to a halt.

Protecting and growing Australia’s maritime sector and seafaring workforce is vital to our economic sovereignty and national security.

The Morrison-Joyce Government has failed even to recognise seafarers as essential workers during the pandemic. Only an Albanese Labor Government can be trusted to deliver a stronger maritime sector to secure Australia’s future.

THURSDAY, 30 SEPTEMBER 2021