PERTH: The Senate’s rejection of a proposed shipping bill allowing foreign vessels greater access to Australian ports has put a $20 million port project in doubt.
The amendments would have renamed the Coastal Trading (Revitalising Australian Shipping) Act 2012 to the Coastal Trading Act 2015 and replaced a three-tiered licensing system with a single permit, allowing both Australian and foreign-flagged vessels to access Australian ports for 12 months.
It would have allowed foreign vessels working between Australian ports for more than six months per year to pay foreign wages to their crew.
After the legislation was voted down in the Senate 31-28, stevedoring company DP World said its plans to develop a $20 million container terminal at Burnie, in Tasmania’s north-west, was under a cloud.
DP World’s plans were dependent on the bill passing because it would have allowed container vessels, operated by international shipping lines, to carry domestic containerised freight between Australian ports.
Senator Richard Colbeck said it was expected DP World’s port expansion, the resultant increased trade flow and revised coastal shipping laws would have reduced the price of shipping a 20-foot container from $2,800 to $1,350.
The company said while it would keep working on terminal designs it was reconsidering its plans.
