Freight & Trade Alliance (FTA) and the Australian Peak Shippers' Association (APSA) wrote to The Hon Christian Porter (Attorney-General for Australia and Minister for Industrial Relations) on 30 October 2020 seeking engagement with the Federal Government in terms of the economic impacts of ongoing waterfront industrial action.
Our correspondence noted:- while the Federal Government justifiably boasts about its diplomatic achievements in gaining access to Free Trade Agreements and other opportunities for Australian commerce, this counts for little by failing to take measures that guarantee that we have a reliable supply chain to facilitate import and export operations;
- it is inconceivable that at a time when the Federal Government is trying to facilitate an economic recovery as a result of a global pandemic, we have insufficient ships coming into Australia with large numbers of blanked (cancelled) sailings and some by-passing major ports due to congestion - as a result, some shipping lines are simply refusing to take bookings altogether in the knowledge that berthing windows are conservatively two to three weeks behind schedule;
- those shipping lines that are servicing Sydney are charging exorbitant "congestion surcharges" on top of record high freight rates meaning that many exporters and importers who can meet contractual obligations are doing so with diminished financial returns and in some cases at a loss; and
- in what is a major threat to the long term sustainability of Australian businesses, overseas purchasers are moving away from dealing with Australian exporters due to the unpredictability of our supply chain and are using alternative overseas sources in a highly competitive international trade environment.
The bottom line in our submission highlighted that we need the Federal Government intervention to ensure our port operations are seriously treated as an essential service with permanent change to industrial relation law to ensure our trade gateways remain unimpeded.
FTA / APSA also expressed support for the public position of Shipping Australia that at minimum, mechanisms must be introduced to ensure that co-ordinated industrial action across the waterfront cannot occur again.
ATTORNEY GENERAL RESPONSE
A formal response was received yesterday (25 November 2020) with the following summary: - the Attorney-General indicated his support for the Patrick and DP World applications to the Fair Work Commission (FWC) to terminate protected industrial action at their terminals;
- the Attorney-General has an understanding that bargaining is close to being finalised across the majority of DP World's ports and that bargaining is continuing for a new agreement for Patrick Stevedores, with the assistance of the Fair Work Commission;
- while protected industrial action has now ceased at all container terminals (with the exception of the DP World terminal in Fremantle), the Attorney-General acknowledges the impact of continued congestion, particularly at Port Botany, and the disruption that this is causing to shipping schedules;
- the department is also aware of the bargaining dispute involving Svitzer Australia and is keeping the Attorney-General fully briefed on developments; and
- the Government is of the view that industrial action should only be taken as a last resort and has encouraged all parties to bring these disputes to resolution as quickly as possible.
The Attorney-General will continue to closely monitor the situation at the ports and expressed appreciation for the regular communications FTA / APSA have had with the department.
We wait with interest to see what happens next at Patrick (noting that the current truce with the Maritime Union of Australia concludes on 1 December 2020) and will escalate our engagement with key stakeholders, member associations and government to drive home the need for ports to be treated as an 'essential service'.
FTA / APSA will continue to keep members up to date on pertinent developments. |
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