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.”