Summary

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The majority voted in favour of a motion to agree with the bill in its current form. This means they can now consider whether or not they wish to pass the bill in the House.

What does this bill do?

According to the bills digest:

The purpose of the Coastal Trading (Revitalising Australian Shipping) Amendment Bill 2017 (the Bill) is to amend the Coastal Trading (Revitalising Australian Shipping) Act 2012 (the Coastal Trading Act) to streamline the regulation of coastal trading, including by:

  • removing the five-voyage minimum requirement for temporary licences
  • simplifying licence variation, consultation and notification processes
  • amending the tolerance provisions for temporary licence voyages
  • abolishing the separate category of emergency licences and
  • extending the regime to cover, for example, voyages involving offshore petroleum facilities.

Fadden MP Stuart Robert explained why the bill was introduced:

The Coastal Trading (Revitalising Australian Shipping) Act was introduced in 2012 as part of a suite reforms designed to provide the Australian shipping industry with a stable framework and indeed to encourage further investment. Unfortunately that has not been the case. Since implementation of the current framework, the decline in the number of Australian flagged vessels has unfortunately continued. The reality at the moment is that many ageing Australian registered vessels are not being replaced. The sector is ostensibly in decline. This bill was intended to balance the interests of the Australian shipping industry and users of shipping services by regulating Australian and foreign flagged ships through a licensing system. Unfortunately this simply hasn't happened. Australian businesses have faced such significant issues accessing coastal shipping that they've given up and frankly started sending their products by road or rail. Something has to change.

Opposition to the bill

Shortland MP Pat Conroy (Labor) explained his party's opposition to the bill:

This bill offers a raft of measures that will make it easier for foreign flagged vessels to operate in Australian waters, while providing absolutely nothing for Australian flagged vessels. The proposal before the House would increase tolerance limits from their current level of plus or minus 20 per cent of the nominated cargo or passenger volumes to 200 per cent more or 100 per cent less. It would also change the current loading window from plus or minus five days to 30 days either side of the authorised date. This drastic increase of volume tolerance limits and loading windows would make it impossible for Australian owned and operated ships that hold general licences to compete with foreign vessels holding temporary licences. These provisions would, according to the Maritime Union of Australia, totally undermine accepted commercial arrangements and make it impossible for a general licence holder to contest a cargo, as a general licence holder would not know what they were contesting.

Votes Passed by a small majority

Nobody rebelled against their party.

Party Votes
Adam Bandt Melbourne Australian Greens No
Australian Labor Party (94% turnout) 0 Yes 65 No
Anthony Albanese Grayndler No
Anne Aly Cowan No
Sharon Bird Cunningham No
Chris Bowen McMahon No
Gai Brodtmann Canberra No
Tony Burke Watson No
Linda Burney Barton No
Mark Butler Port Adelaide No
Terri Butler Griffith No
Anthony Byrne Holt No
Jim Chalmers Rankin No
Nick Champion Wakefield No
Jason Clare Blaxland No
Sharon Claydon Newcastle No
Julie Collins Franklin No
Pat Conroy Shortland No
Michael Danby Melbourne Ports No
Milton Dick Oxley No
Mark Dreyfus Isaacs No
Justine Elliot Richmond No
Kate Ellis Adelaide No
Joel Fitzgibbon Hunter No
Mike Freelander Macarthur No
Steve Georganas Hindmarsh No
Andrew Giles Scullin No
Patrick Gorman Perth No
Luke Gosling Solomon No
Ross Hart Bass No
Chris Hayes Fowler No
Julian Hill Bruce No
Ed Husic Chifley No
Stephen Jones Whitlam No
Ged Kearney Batman No
Justine Keay Braddon No
Mike Kelly Eden-Monaro No
Matt Keogh Burt No
Peter Khalil Wills No
Catherine King Ballarat No
Madeleine King Brand No
Susan Lamb Longman No
Andrew Leigh Fenner No
Jenny Macklin Jagajaga No
Richard Marles Corio No
Emma McBride Dobell No
Brian Mitchell Lyons No
Rob Mitchell McEwen No
Shayne Neumann Blair No
Clare O'Neil Hotham No
Cathy O'Toole Herbert No
Julie Owens Parramatta No
Graham Perrett Moreton No
Tanya Plibersek Sydney No
Amanda Rishworth Kingston No
Michelle Rowland Greenway No
Joanne Ryan Lalor No
Bill Shorten Maribyrnong No
Anne Stanley Werriwa No
Wayne Swan Lilley No
Meryl Swanson Paterson No
Susan Templeman Macquarie No
Matt Thistlethwaite Kingsford Smith No
Maria Vamvakinou Calwell No
Tim Watts Gellibrand No
Josh Wilson Fremantle No
Tony Zappia Makin No
Lisa Chesters Bendigo Absent
Emma Husar Lindsay Absent
Brendan O'Connor Gorton Absent
Warren Snowdon Lingiari Absent
Rebekha Sharkie Mayo Centre Alliance Yes
Mark Coulton Parkes Deputy Speaker Yes
Cathy McGowan Indi Independent Yes
Andrew Wilkie Denison Independent No
Bob Katter Kennedy Katter's Australian Party Absent
Liberal Party (98% turnout) 58 Yes 0 No
Tony Abbott Warringah Yes
John Alexander Bennelong Yes
Karen Andrews McPherson Yes
Kevin Andrews Menzies Yes
Julia Banks Chisholm Yes
Julie Bishop Curtin Yes
Russell Broadbent McMillan Yes
Scott Buchholz Wright Yes
Steven Ciobo Moncrieff Yes
David Coleman Banks Yes
Chris Crewther Dunkley Yes
Peter Dutton Dickson Yes
Warren Entsch Leichhardt Yes
Trevor Evans Brisbane Yes
Jason Falinski Mackellar Yes
Paul Fletcher Bradfield Yes
Nicolle Flint Boothby Yes
Josh Frydenberg Kooyong Yes
Ian Goodenough Moore Yes
Andrew Hastie Canning Yes
Alex Hawke Mitchell Yes
Sarah Henderson Corangamite Yes
Luke Howarth Petrie Yes
Greg Hunt Flinders Yes
Steve Irons Swan Yes
Michael Keenan Stirling Yes
Craig Kelly Hughes Yes
Craig Laundy Reid Yes
Julian Leeser Berowra Yes
Sussan Ley Farrer Yes
Nola Marino Forrest Yes
John McVeigh Groom Yes
Scott Morrison Cook Yes
Ben Morton Tangney Yes
Ted O'Brien Fairfax Yes
Kelly O'Dwyer Higgins Yes
Tony Pasin Barker Yes
Christian Porter Pearce Yes
Jane Prentice Ryan Yes
Melissa Price Durack Yes
Christopher Pyne Sturt Yes
Rowan Ramsey Grey Yes
Stuart Robert Fadden Yes
Ann Sudmalis Gilmore Yes
Michael Sukkar Deakin Yes
Angus Taylor Hume Yes
Dan Tehan Wannon Yes
Alan Tudge Aston Yes
Malcolm Turnbull Wentworth Yes
Bert Van Manen Forde Yes
Ross Vasta Bonner Yes
Andrew Wallace Fisher Yes
Lucy Wicks Robertson Yes
Rick Wilson O'Connor Yes
Tim Wilson Goldstein Yes
Jason Wood La Trobe Yes
Ken Wyatt Hasluck Yes
Trent Zimmerman North Sydney Yes
Andrew Laming Bowman Absent
National Party (100% turnout) 15 Yes 0 No
Andrew Broad Mallee Yes
Darren Chester Gippsland Yes
George Christensen Dawson Yes
Damian Drum Murray Yes
Andrew Gee Calare Yes
David Gillespie Lyne Yes
Luke Hartsuyker Cowper Yes
Kevin Hogan Page Yes
Barnaby Joyce New England Yes
Michelle Landry Capricornia Yes
David Littleproud Maranoa Yes
Michael McCormack Riverina Yes
Llew O'Brien Wide Bay Yes
Ken O'Dowd Flynn Yes
Keith Pitt Hinkler Yes
Tony Smith Casey Speaker Absent
Totals (95% turnout) 77 Yes – 67 No