QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE
Ms CATHERINE KING (Ballarat—Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government) (14:48): I thank the member for Leichhardt for the question, and I want to acknowledge how closely felt it has been in his community. In times of emergency, too often we have seen regional and remote communities in Far North Queensland, in Western Australia and in the Northern Territory cut off.
With roads and rail up north flooded, communities are often only accessible by sea. It's been a logistical challenge to make sure that those communities get the support and supplies that they need, often having to rely on foreign-flagged vessels and at times our fantastic Defence Force. Last week, we eased that challenge.
I was thrilled to be in Townsville on Friday to greet ANL Kokoda, our inaugural vessel in Australia's Maritime Strategic Fleet. This large cargo fleet, which is to be fully Australian flagged and Australian crewed, will strengthen our economic sovereignty and improve our national security. It will be there for Australians in times of need, whether that's natural disasters, supply chain disruptions or times of global uncertainty.
It's a commitment we took to the Australian people, and we are delivering on it. We are an island nation heavily reliant on ships for international trade. Despite this, our maritime industry has been declining for decades.
The last few months have shown how critical it is that we invest in and rebuild our maritime sector. The ANL Kokoda will provide us with more options in times of crisis and in times of global uncertainty. It will also importantly provide a training ground for Australians who want to join the maritime industry with Australian wages and Australian conditions.
On Friday I met Natalie, a young tug engineer, who spoke to me about the opportunities that this would open up for maritime workers like her. Alongside Natalie were members of the ANL executive team, representatives from the Maritime Union of Australia and the maritime industry all together championing the investment in maritime jobs and skills in something that government, unions and industry are absolutely united on.
We are continuing the work to secure the remaining two ships for the Strategic Fleet Pilot Program. We have also established the Maritime Skills and Training Initiative with successful applicants to be announced soon. We're cracking down on wage theft aboard foreign-flagged ships.
We're working to promote an increase in Australian-flagged vessels through the coastal trading act review. We're committed to making sure that Australia has the sovereign capability in maritime. The strategic fleet is very much part of that, ensuring that we do have the opportunity for an Australian-flagged vessel, Australian crewed, to be able to help out in those times of emergency and in supply chain disruptions.
It's only this side of government that is backing our maritime industry with our Australian strategic fleet. We're committed to revitalising the maritime industry and our sovereign capability in that regard.