MUA members took on some huge struggles in 2014. One of the biggest was led by the crew of the Tandara Spirit. Both swings of seafarers participated in a sit-in on board the tanker for 20 days in Port Philip Bay in Melbourne. Their struggle to save jobs and to protect the future of Australian tankers brought national attention to the issue of Australia’s declining fuel security. Their story is told in this booklet. Despite the union’s best efforts, the Tandara Spirit has sailed. However, the struggle to save jobs will continue in 2015, and we need your support. The MUA has launched a campaign ‘Our coast, Our fuel, Our security’. We need you to support the campaign by: - Getting informed on the situation by checking out the campaign page on a regular basis. mua.org.au/our_coast_our_fuel_our_security - Downloading and printing out this booklet and making it available on every worksite and/or vessel. is.gd/4d74g3 - Share this Facebook campaign page far and wide. - Using old fashioned word-of-mouth to tell your friends and family about how important fuel security is, not just for jobs but for the economy. Here’s why. BP will close its Brisbane refinery in 2015. The Caltex refinery in Brisbane will stay open – but it is likely that a lot of the refined petroleum it produces will go to filling BP’s old contracts ashore, leaving less fuel available for coastal shipping. Currently, the Hugli Spirit, the British Loyalty and the Alexander Spirit all load refined products at the two Brisbane refineries. Once BP’s Brisbane refinery is closed, Australian refining capacity will have declined to 27,000 ML from over 45,000 ML in 2011. At the same time, we are using more and more refined petroleum products (petrol, jet fuel, diesel). A secure supply is vital to keeping supermarkets stocked with groceries, hospitals stocked with supplies, and all aspects of modern industry – but there is only about 2 weeks supply available, and less for many parts of the country. Australia is alone among developed countries in not having government-mandated stocks of oil and fuel to rely on in an emergency. Out of 75 countries, the NRMA found that only Australia relied totally on market forces to secure access to transport fuel. The oil majors have decided that they can make higher profits by investing their money in oil exploration and buying cheap refined petroleum from overseas than they can in maintaining and expanding Australian refineries. So they are closing them – first Shell and Caltex closed their Sydney refineries and now BP is closing their Brisbane refinery. A report produced for the government found that by 2016, there will be the equivalent of 60 tankers importing refined petroleum to Australia. But of course the oil majors want to use the lottery of low-cost Flag of Convenience tankers from the spot-market that might only come to Australia once or twice a year. We saw the shocking state of many of the Vitol-chartered tankers during the Tandara Spirit campaign (see booklet). If we are going to rely on tankers to import refined products, they should be Australian ships that are regularly inspected by AMSA and which the government can control in the event of any problem. Hundreds of secure jobs could be created. Seafarers trained in these trades can keep Australian ships and ports running. This will be a tough campaign – but our fuel security and Australia’s marine environment are too important. We are making this argument to a Senate inquiry to be held in Sydney on Monday 2 February. We have put it to the government as part of their energy policy process. Our campaign and our struggles are educating many other people and organisations about the shadowy world of international shipping. We are supporting the NRMA’s call for a Transport Energy Plan for Australia. Please get involved. In Unity, Assistant National Secretaries Warren Smith and Ian Bray Click here for the Tandara Spirit booklet is.gd/4d74g3
Posted on: Tue, 06 Jan 2015 05:41:49 +0000