Shipping Australia condemns the ongoing industrial action on the waterfront.
The vast majority of Australia’s consumer and business goods (as opposed to commodities such as iron ore) are imported or exported in ocean-going container ships which are mostly berthed, discharged and loaded at our main capital city container ports. The actual cargo operations at these ports are handled by the container terminal operators, which are being hit with extensive industrial action.
Exporters, wholesalers, retailers, businesses of all kinds and, ultimately, the everyday Australian family, utterly depend upon the uninterrupted flow of containerised goods across the Australian waterfront. Any disruption to any aspect of the Australian waterfront will therefore adversely affect all Australians no matter how far away they live from the sea.
Ocean shipping will also be gravely affected. Currently, one day of delay for a container ship on the Australian coast can cost up to about AUD$94,000* excluding the cost of fuel. So any delays will be extraordinarily costly. On a seven day basis, that’s a wasted cost of AUD$655,529 per delayed ship per week. Shipping companies will also be hit with increased fuel bills as they try to make up for lost time.
Such delay causes severe disruptions to shipping schedules. Ships simply cannot wait around for a week at those costs. We can only imagine that there will likely be increased costs for shippers and consignees, increased numbers of ports being skipped, and reduced frequency of shipping services. The volumes of empty containers stuck in Australia will likely surge. There will very likely be other adverse consequences. Disruption to trade at our ports causes harm to Australian businesses, consumers and our broader economy. The resurgence of waterfront industrial action during a global pandemic is grossly irresponsible and utterly inappropriate.
Shipping Australia would like to express sympathy to all owners and handlers of cargo who are having their lives made unnecessarily difficult by this selfish industrial action. At a time when the nation is under siege from the pandemic, it is outrageous that Australian exporters, Australian importers and Australian families should be deliberately hit by uncaring and reckless industrial action.
The smooth continuation of operations at the waterfront is vital to Australia’s economic interests. However, owing to the way that the enterprise bargaining system works, it seems that we either have – or we have the potential to have – a near-continuous experience of industrial relations-induced disruption on the waterfront.
Industrial relations needs to be looked at as a matter of urgency by the Federal Government or disruptions will continue to persist to the detriment of all Australians, no matter who they are or where they live.
Shipping Australia calls upon the Federal Government to carry out a review of waterfront industrial relations so as to ensure that industrial action is not able to disrupt the supply chain upon which all Australians depend.
