For an election issue shouldn't we focus on those members in the community who keep the community going ? Shipping not only bings us the goods we need, it also provides or rather should provide employment for this Nation & not for the Nations which exploit cheap labour.
Surely Australia isn't that far down the drain already that this trend can't be reversed ?
I don't care what anyone thinks but we do need a sort of National Service/Gap year service to train our young with a superior mentality to the one of their Baby Boomer parents.
Without a healthy mentality you get what we've been getting for the past five decades. Don't you think it's time to wake up ?

I have not heard of any study that claims that shipping is more
efficient than rail in moving goods around the country.
Flooding problems can be managed to an extent but then the rest of the
time between floods would I think more than make up for the flood loss.
Of course for international shipping how do we overcome the economic
competition of Philipino crews.
With rail the infrastructure is already in place.
Electrification would be a really big cost but in the long term necessary.
The reason it is necessary is the same as electric cars are necessary.
Shipping faces the same problem. Sail ahoy !

Bazz,
You can't do without international trade & that's where shipping comes in. As far as domestic movement of cargo goes, I'm inclined to think that we rely too heavily on road transport. I agree that rail is the most efficient method for bulk & long distance. Ship building yards should have other industries linked which require heavy duty metal construction. Australian manufacturing must look at multitasking & reducing artificial overheads such as overpaid CEO's & shareholders etc & only then can costs be reduced & manufacturing be made viable.
The economy would reward us for it !

Just what are these ships going to do? What are they going to carry to where?

If it is to carry containers from capital cities to capital cities, existing international shipping can do it much more efficiently on their current passages unloading in coming freight.

We don't have any ports for minor shipping in most places. Queensland has a few specialist ports for export loading of sugar & coal, but most of these have no facility to handle general cargo. Places like Weipa load bauxite, & Gladstone can unload it from 70,000 tonners, but general; shipping not so much.

NSW has only 3 all weather ports, & 2 of those are basically coal loading ports, & not much else. The rest are fair weather ports only, & then not for much bigger than a trawler.

The rest of oz is much the same. The cost of loading labor alone would destroy any economic advantage.This is simply a Labor effort to shore up union support, at huge cost to the rest of us if actually built.

existing international shipping can do it much more efficiently on their current passages unloading in coming freight.
Hasbeen,
Very good point. Australia simply can't compete with the wage levels that are required here to make industry get back on its feet. However, ship building & ship maintenance for the domestic maritime industry should be retained here unless the 'economic experts' think we can let the unemployment benefits snowball indefinitely.
The EPA requires new, more sensible blood in its ranks to stop stifling the economy in Australia.

One big problem with that. The government cannot commandeer foreign flagged ships in a emergency.