Backing Queensland Maritime Jobs
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Project summary
The Backing Queensland Maritime Jobs initiative is comprised of $21 million to revitalise and strengthen coastal shipping and create maritime jobs in Queensland. The initiative includes:
- the development of a new coastal shipping service between Brisbane and Townsville
- conversion to a local crew for existing operators
- training and job creation to ensure a sustainable local workforce that will support the new coastal shipping service
- investment in landside infrastructure which has the potential to facilitate coastal cargoes, in collaboration with the publicly owned ports
- the formation of a maritime group that will inform the process
Coastal shipping has the potential to be a vital cog in our state, with 7000km of coastline and 16 trading ports. There are significant opportunities to improve our resilience by revitalising the maritime sector.
| Details at a glance | |
|---|---|
| Action Area | Smarter and targeted infrastructure investment and enable improved supply chain efficiency |
| Delivery | Work with publicly owned ports to invest in landside infrastructure for a coastal shipping service. Provide incentives to new and existing shipping operators to commence a new coastal shipping service between Brisbane and Townsville. Fee relief and training and wage subsidies for Queensland maritime workers. |
| Location | Queensland’s coastline from Brisbane to Townsville. |
| Timeframe | 2021–22 to 2023–24 (currently in inception phase). |
| Financial | $21 million (includes funding for infrastructure investment, training for the Queensland maritime sector, incentives for a coastal shipping service, and converting crewed vessels to local crews). |
Closer look
Impact on freight and supply chains
With freight forecast to grow 26 per cent more in the decade to 2026, a coordinated end to end supply chain approach is required to ensure the movement of the growing freight task. All transport modes will need to work collaboratively to achieve this. Coastal shipping will have a role as a transport option in the future and can offer greater supply chain resilience in the event of disruptions.
A coastal shipping service would also deliver broader benefits to society in the form of regional development, more sustainable and liveable cities, reduced social and environmental externalities, future maritime skill development and greater resilience to the freight industry.
| Anticipated benefit | Description |
|---|---|
| Intended strategy objective | |
| Smarter and targeted infrastructure investment | The Queensland Government, in partnership with publicly owned ports and working collaboratively with privately operated ports, will invest in landside port infrastructure that has the potential to facilitate a coastal shipping service. |
| Enable improved supply chain efficiency |
The initiative will supplement traditional road and rail-based forms of transport along the east coast of Queensland, which are typically prone to closures arising from natural disasters. |
| Project benefits | |
| Supply chain resilience | Reinvigorating a coastal shipping industry will help build Queensland’s capacity and resilience to respond to any future pandemic that disrupts international supply chains, as well as natural disasters like cyclones and floods. |
| Skilled workforce into the future | Backing the local maritime sector will increase the skills pipeline for Queensland so that there is capacity to respond to crises like the COVID-19 pandemic. This includes growing skills through maritime cadetships and training, with funding committed to support Queenslanders to enter the maritime industry or upskill. The Queensland Government will also continue investment in the publicly owned ‘Smartship’ facility to support the delivery of more training for pilots who are critical to the Queensland trade supply chain. |
| Regional development | An expanded coastal shipping service would also increase the number of jobs available in regional areas through increased activity in regional ports and the areas around the ports. |
| Environment, safety and congestion | Coastal shipping also potentially generates fewer costs than road transport in terms of accident costs and greenhouse gas emissions. |
Project delivery
Delivery model
Page 57 The Queensland Government will provide financial incentives to a successful proponent/s to establish a coastal shipping service between Brisbane and Townsville.
The Queensland Government will work in cooperation with the port network and industry to provide cadetship programs for seafarers and will also invest $1 million to support maritime companies and registered training organisations to deliver cadetships and to support maritime training for Queenslanders.
Stakeholder engagement
The actions proposed in the Backing Queensland Maritime Jobs initiative were formulated based on extensive consultation across the broad maritime sector by the Maritime Jobs Taskforce. The consultation process was very inclusive and allowed a wide array of issues to be identified that affected different sectors within the maritime industry, and for possible solutions to be explored.
The Maritime Industry Consultation Group (MICG) brings together representatives from the employer sector, employee sector, training organisations and other relevant government agencies. The MICG will work through the best options for commencing a new Brisbane to Townsville shipping service and consider what training schemes and incentives are needed to support the new service with Queensland crews.
Lessons learned
The Backing Queensland Maritime Jobs initiative, while still in its inception phase, has been supported by strong stakeholder engagement. It is anticipated that consultation with stakeholders will inform the progression of the initiative and be a component when evaluating the initiative’s success.