Stephen Jones has today called on the Federal Government to withdraw its plan to deregulate coastal shipping laws which could see the recently stricken Iron Chieftain replaced by a foreign flagged vessel and overseas crew.

Member for Whitlam Stephen Jones has today called on the Federal Government to withdraw its plan to deregulate coastal shipping laws which could see the recently stricken Iron Chieftain replaced by a foreign flagged vessel and overseas crew.

In June, the CSL Iron Chieftain vessel was retired due to significant damage sustained during a fire at Port Kembla Harbour.

As a result of the fire and the subsequent retirement of the vessel, all CSL Australia positions on the Iron Chieftain will be redundant, with expressions of interest being taken for voluntary redundancies.

Repealing the Coastal Trading (Revitalising Australian Shipping) Amendment Bill 2017 will make it easier to replace the Iron Chieftain with a foreign vessel and a foreign crew.

The Iron Chieftain is an example of the flaws of the legislation that will affect the Illawarra.

The loss of local jobs and a cut in wages for workers is not an unintended or incidental consequence of the legislation, but a central purpose of it.

We want more Australian seafarers crewing more Australian flagged ships that carry more local goods to and from Port Kembla around the Australian coastline.