Change may be afoot for Australia’s cruise industry, with a bill introduced into Federal Parliament which proposes to reduce the administrative burdens for certain international ships, including expedition operators.
Last month amendments were proposed to the Coastal Trading (Revitalising Australian Shipping) Act 2012 which would remove the high costs related to the importation of a vessel and reduce the required number of chartered voyages from five to one.
The move follows an outcry from the industry, voiced by Ponant chairman Asia Pacific, Sarina Bratton at both Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) Australasia’s Cruise360 conference in Sydney and the Australian Cruise Association conference in Mooloolaba.
“We would all love to do more coastal cruising but we can’t and we can’t get an answer from government about how many days we can do,” Bratton said.
“We would love to do 90 days on the coast, we’re equipped to have ships in every region of Australia and we’d love to do it, but we can’t do it, there’s this Coastal Trading Act that’s designed to protect an Australian cruise industry which virtually doesn’t exist.”
Bratton said Australia was missing out on a “huge opportunity” to leverage international guests who want to come to Australia and sail to ports in the country.
“In New Zealand, you can operate for 28 days before your ship needs to go international,” Bratton said.
“We’ve got charters lined up from New Zealand but the current Australian operating environment is way too challenging.”
In Mooloolaba, Bratton urged stakeholders within the cruise industry to “lobby Government to change the rules for international vessels of any size to be able to operate without restrictions”.
