Trans-Tasman shipping could boost trade and jobs

The Mar­itime Union says the elec­tion of a Labor Gov­ern­ment in Aus­tralia could pro­vide poten­tial ben­e­fits for trans-Tas­man ship­ping.

Mar­itime Union of New Zealand Nation­al Sec­re­tary Craig Har­ri­son says the re-intro­duc­tion of Aus­tralian and New Zealand flagged and crewed ves­sels was an obvi­ous way for­ward to solve ongo­ing trans­port dis­rup­tion.

He says there has been a huge change in atti­tudes towards local ship­ping with indus­try now demand­ing reli­able and secure ship­ping – a trans­for­ma­tion from “just in time” to “just in case” think­ing in the logis­tics sec­tor.

Mr Har­ri­son says there was strong poten­tial with sim­i­lar Government’s in both coun­tries that could align ship­ping poli­cies and build region­al trans­port links.

“We have had some very pos­i­tive results in New Zealand with the Gov­ern­ment work­ing with local ship­ping com­pa­nies to devel­op coastal ship­ping, and there are strong rea­sons to expand this to region­al ship­ping ser­vices.”

He says ded­i­cat­ed trans-Tas­man ship­ping could assist with the ongo­ing con­ges­tion and delays in inter­na­tion­al ship­ping.

“It is essen­tial New Zealand and Aus­tralia build up our blue water ship­ping capac­i­ty and have our own crews and ships pro­vid­ing secure sup­ply chains.”