Government plans are putting the nation's shipping on the ropes, says Anne Urquhart.
DAVID Winters from Bega in NSW has spent the past year and close to $15,000 in Tasmania securing the qualifications to shore up his long-term employment as a marine engineer.
Mr Winters, 50, gave up a lucrative role in offshore shipping and a year's income to complete his Bachelor of Applied Science in Marine Engineering at Launceston's Australian Maritime College. The training would open the door to chief engineer roles and guarantee his professional future after 25 years in Australian shipping. 
Or so he thought.
He is two months off finishing his course, but his career hopes seem further away than ever, after the Federal Government introduced legislation that threatens to make the Australian seafarer an endangered species.
The Government's Shipping Legislation Amendment Bill 2015 seeks to dismantle Labor's 2012 shipping reforms, which required companies shipping goods between domestic ports to seek out an Australian vessel in the first instance. It opens the gates to a free-for-all on Australia's coastlines where foreign flagged ships will be able to employ foreign workers on foreign wages.
Australian shipping companies with locally flagged ships employing local crews won't be able to compete. And Australian seafarers will pay the price with their jobs.
For an island nation, a strong maritime sector should be non-negotiable. It is our first line of defence in matters of national security. We need it to ensure orderly, efficient and timely trade. And we rely on our world's best-practice standards to protect our marine environment.
Across the globe, countries and continents have moved to shore up protections for their local shipping sectors. The US, Europe and Canada know that a strong maritime industry is vital. But in Australia the Government's heading in the exact opposite direction.
Australian job losses aren't an unfortunate side effect of this destructive legislation - they are the very purpose of it.
The Government's own modelling shows that 93 per cent of Australian seafarers will lose their jobs if the legislation passes. The Maritime Union of Australia estimates close to 2000 seafarers would be shunted into unemployment, with 230 from Tasmania.
When Mr Winters learnt about the legislation and the grim future that lay ahead, he and more than 100 of his fellow students banded together to pen a heartfelt letter calling on the Prime Minister to pull the legislation from Parliament.
When this failed to provoke a change in direction, Mr Winters organised and led a rally that drew close to 200 shipping industry supporters and AMC students to fight for Australia's maritime sector.
The Government likes to talk about "protections" for Australian workers in the legislation, but they won't tell you what's in the fine print. If it proceeds, a meagre two senior Australian seafarers will be required on each crew. Neither will have to be Australian citizens or even permanent residents.
The Government's own modelling has estimated the "savings" of this legislation to the businesses that use coastal shipping to be $21.4 million a year. This is a fraction of a per cent of the $85 billion production value of these operations. And $19 million, or 88 per cent, of these so-called "savings" come from hardworking seafarers being laid off. This is a false economy. For the sake of a very small boost to the bottom line of companies that use Australian coastal shipping, the Government is willing to sacrifice Australian jobs and our national maritime skills capacity.
It will also cause a hit to the federal budget through foregone taxes and add an extra burden to our welfare budget through income and other support that will be needed for sacked seafarers. Not to mention the exorbitant cost to existing shipping businesses. SeaRoad, which sails across Bass Strait, has estimated the cost of its redundancies could be in excess of $8 million if they are forced to employ foreign crews in order to survive.
For the sake of our economy, our national security and our environment, we need to be bolstering Australian shipping - not tearing it down.
Anne Urquhart is a LaborSenator for Tasmania.