KEVIN Rudd will clamp down on overuse of foreign-owned ships to transport freight around the nation's coastline in a bid to bolster the shipping industry. The Prime Minister is also set to require foreign vessels in Australian waters to observe an International Labour Organisation convention guaranteeing fair pay and conditions for all seafarers. In a shift in approach from that of the previous Howard government, Labor will review coastal shipping laws to uncover ways to lift the domestic shipping fleet's share of the domestic freight market from its current level of about 80 per cent....
photo: Public Domain
