Coastal trade talkfest riles firms

By PAM GRAHAM

A meeting Transport Minister Pete Hodgson has called to discuss regulation of coastal shipping is causing a furore in transport circles.

No road transport, port, rail or stevedoring companies were invited until they kicked up a fuss.

They consider themselves to be affected by any policy changes in the area.

New Zealand deregulated coastal shipping in the early 1990s but there has been a push from unions and the country's main remaining coastal shipper, Pacifica Shipping, to restore cabotage - the exclusive right of local vessels to carry coastal freight.

Hodgson's predecessor, Paul Swain, had promised unions that the Government would respond to a Shipping Industry Review, now three years old. It examined the issue but its members were divided on whether cabotage should be restored.

Those invited to Thursday's meeting with Hodgson include the Shipping Federation, Council of Trade Unions, Maritime Union, Aviation and Marine Engineers Association, Merchant Service Guild, Business New Zealand, Federated Farmers, the Shippers Council, P&O Nedlloyd, Tasman Orient and Coastline Services.

"Through some persistence we were able to get ourselves on the list, but only at the last minute," said Mainfreight managing director Don Braid.

Barrie Saunders, a Wellington lobbyist who represents 13 port chief executives, said he had an interest in the meeting but was not invited.

Toll NZ is seeking an invitation.

Mainfreight wants a sustainable local coastal service, arguing that international shippers come and go and coastal freight is not their main reason for being in New Zealand.

A spokesman from Hodgson's office said the minister had asked people to come in and lay out their views, but it was only possible to fit so many people in a room.

In Australia, rail operators are handling more freight that would otherwise have been carried around the coast.