Brown Peter: General Debate 
Brown Peter: General Debate 
[Volume:643;Page:12864] 
PETER BROWN (Deputy Leader—NZ First) 
: 
 At the beginning of this week almost unnoticed by most New Zealanders the Government made an announcement that I thought should have been a bit more earth-shattering than it was although I understand that the function was well attended. I am referring to the announcement by the Minister of Transport and the release of this document  
Sea Change: Transforming Coastal Shipping in New Zealand 
. 
It is a very significant move that the Government is apparently embarking on. I say “apparently” because nothing is firmly committed in this booklet but it is going in the right direction. It is a move in the right direction. We have a Government that at last has recognised that an island nation tucked at the bottom of the South Pacific should have an efficient shipping service certainly an efficient coastal service. I guess it does not surprise many people in this House that with my background I am absolutely delighted that the Government has chosen to move along those lines. 
There was an interesting comment in the booklet: “Without question coastal shipping has been neglected and considered less relevant to society than it once was.” Who said that? Shipping has been and will continue to be very important to an island nation not only because it moves freight around the country and is the most environmentally friendly transportation system for doing that but because a country that operates I think 13 ports needs maritime expertise. We need maritime expertise that is shore-based. We need deck officers engineering officers and people who serve in rating capacities on board a ship who are trained and who have shipboard experience. 
In this country 99.5 percent of its exports and imports come and go by ship and it needs a port system and maritime expertise in that port system. Many of us in the shipping fraternity and those who are familiar with ships know that coastal shipping in particular has been neglected for ages in this country. It really took a body blow with the introduction of the Maritime Transport Act 1994 and in particular clause 198 that allowed foreign ships to cart coastal cargo around our coast. I would suggest that without exception every foreign ship coming to this country—and there are several of them—works under a favourable tax regime of some sort or other. They work under an international register or a flag of convenience – type register but they are taxed far less than New Zealand shipowners and operators. So they have a huge advantage. They pick up the cargo and it is cream on the pudding so to speak. The New Zealand coastal fleet finds it very very difficult to compete. 
New Zealand First has been a long-time advocate of having a favourable fiscal regime for shipping. In a way this document outlines that consideration has been given to having that regime. The action plan on page 25 of this document states in part: “The second step of the plan then is to review and put in place criteria and processes to ensure government funding is provided for worthwhile coastal shipping projects.” What is that telling us? Where is this funding coming from? I asked the Minister of Transport in the House the other day whether any share of it was coming from the National Land Transport Fund from money and funding generated from the motorists and truckers and those sorts of sources. She said I would have to wait for the Budget to see where it comes from. I am hoping that the Government will not take the 18.7c from petrol that it puts into the Crown bank account put it into the National Land Transport Fund and then extract it again. I trust the Minister to do the right thing by the New Zealand shipping industry.