Government plans to loosen restrictions on foreign-crewed ships undermine national security because vessels registered in countries with low transparency could be used by terrorists and organised crime, Labor has warned.
On Wednesday Labor’s infrastructure spokesman, Anthony Albanese, told federal MPs the government was proposing rigorous security checks for Australians at the same time as encouraging a “free-for-all around our coast and in our harbours” by allowing in foreign crews “without any real security checks”.
Albanese made the statement during debate on a bill which would add checks on Australian workers’ links to organised crime to existing checks for links to terrorist groups.
He said Labor would take a “non-partisan approach” to national security but warned “it makes no sense to be toughening background checks into Australian mariners and port workers … at the same time as the government is determined to replace Australian mariners with foreign workers”.
Albanese was referring to shipping legislation that would wind back preferences for Australian crews by allowing foreign-crewed ships to complete more jobs in Australian waters before being required to pay Australian wages. The legislation was blocked by the Senate in November.
The MP said the bill “explicitly stated … it would result in the reflagging of Australian ships with foreign flags and the replacement of Australian mariners with foreign mariners on those ships”.
He cited Department of Immigration and Border Protection submissions to a Senate inquiry into the use of ships registered in so-called flag of convenience nations to warn of potential national security risks.
The department said: “While a significant proportion of legitimate sea trade is conducted by ships with FOC registration, there are features of FOC registration, regulation and practice that organised crime syndicates or terrorist groups may seek to exploit.
“Reduced transparency or secrecy [about ships’ ownership] … are factors that can make FOC ships more attractive for use in illegal activity, including by organised crime or terrorist groups.”
Albanese told the lower house: “The problem is that Australian authorities have far less awareness of the backgrounds of overseas mariners than they have of local mariners, whose backgrounds have been vetted.”
He called on the infrastructure minister, Darren Chester, to “examine the clear inconsistencies between this legislation’s aim of ensuring that maritime workers have no links with terrorists or organised crime and the government’s parallel agenda of encouraging greater use of foreign-flagged ships crewed by foreign crews”.
Albanese said despite failure of the bill to open Australian shipping up to more foreign competition, the government had “since been abusing existing legislation to issue temporary permits that have allowed the owners of three vessels to sack their Australian crews and replace them with foreign vessels”.
He referred to the sacking of MV Portland workers and BP’s decision to terminate use of the British Fidelity oil tanker and sack its Australian crew on Tuesday.
Chester told Guardian Australia temporary licences allowed foreign ships to undertake coastal trading when there were no Australian ships to move cargo, and the number of such licences issued by Labor and the Coalition governments “has largely stayed the same”.
“The claim by Labor that foreign mariners backgrounds are not subject to the same detailed background checks as Australian mariners and port workers is absolutely false,” he said.
“Anyone who needs regular access to secure areas at Australia’s regulated air or sea ports is required to hold an aviation security identification card or a maritime security identification card.”
Chester said the bill extending background checks fulfilled an election commitment to ensure that people with a relevant criminal history can never receive a security clearance to work at Australian airports and seaports.
