Email Shows Foreign Ship Laws Floute

Date: 07 February 2003

A Department of Immigration email obtained by Labor has exposed a cosy Howard Government deal to help foreign ship operators with special visas for crews that bypass normal work visa requirements.

The Howard Government has been manipulating and flouting immigration and maritime laws to advantage foreign shipping operators on the coast, undercutting Australian shipping and rail companies and taking Australian jobs.

Special Purpose Visas (SPV's) are supposed to cover foreign crew while in Australian ports and waters as part of an ongoing international voyage. They don't have the same hurdles as work visas that apply to any other person wanting to work in Australia.

To help foreign shipping companies, the Howard Government has been giving SPV's to foreign crew for extended periods while they are working on the Australian coast on vessels covered by single and continuing voyage permits.

An email from a Department of Immigration official has now confirmed Labor's concerns with the legality of this practice. It says in part:

"The voyage patterns of two CSL vessels, the Pacific and the Stadacona, brought into question the visa status of foreign crew operating in the Australian coastal trade. Legal advice on this matter has failed to provide resolution."

The Minister for Immigration has now amended immigration legislation to create a special SPV category for foreign crews to seal a special deal with foreign shippers.

The use of these exceptional powers under subsection 33 (2)(b)(ii) of the Migration Act 1958 confirms Labor's view that SPV's have been misused.

Single and continuing voyage permits let foreign ships engage in the interstate transport trade only when no Australian ship is available but that test and its timing are manipulated to suit foreign vessels and their numbers have ballooned since 1996.

As a result, some foreign ships have been on the coast continuously for two years on these permits competing with Australian operators while not subject to laws applying to other domestic transport operators.

The Minister for Immigration should must come clean, admit the blunder and explain why foreign crews should receive this special visa category.

For further information

Contact:	Blythe Hamilton
Union:	Labor Council of NSW
Contact Mobile:	0407 099 104
WWW:	http://www.alp.org.au

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