Machinery crisis for WA farmers as union action at Fremantle port stops unloading of combines for harvest

Three ships carrying 44 combine harvesters and other crucial farm machinery needed for WA’s coming bumper grain harvest have been unable to unload at Fremantle port in recent days. Instead, the vessels have been diverted to the east coast because of an escalating dispute at the wharf. A national stop-work campaign by the Maritime Union of Australia against Patrick Terminals and QUBE began earlier this year but has intensified at Fremantle since the long weekend earlier this month. Picket lines mean the Tamesis, due to unload 28 combine harvesters and seven tractors, has been diverted to Adelaide. The Morning Prosperity, with 14 combines and 20 tractors, and the Tamerlane, holding two combines and four tractors, have been diverted to Melbourne. Another vessel carrying headers and tractors is due to arrive in Fremantle in coming days but could also be diverted. The move comes as Pastoralists and Graziers Association president Tony Seabrook warns that if another ship with farm machinery is berthed at Fremantle with cargo that is not permitted to be unloaded, he would “personally amass a group of farmers to confront the picket line and unload the ships themselves”. The shipments of combine harvesters so far diverted are from several manufacturers and are worth between $750,000 and $1 million each. The vessels also contain mining equipment, earthmoving equipment and motor vehicles. Farm Machinery and Industry Association of WA executive officer John Henchy said the farm equipment would now need to be trucked back to WA at considerable cost to the dealer or manufacturer, creating major delays at “crunch time” with the State’s harvest already shifting into gear. “With COVID there were already substantial delays with orders and getting it this far,” Mr Henchy said. “Now we have more delays, while harvest is already starting in WA. This machinery is very crucial to farmers’ operations. “These farmers have worked for a whole year to get this crop to the point of harvest for their whole year’s income. We have a record harvest coming up, and unions are trying to stop it happening.” Mr Seabrook said buying a harvester was the single biggest equipment purchase any farmer would make. “Because of the sheer cost of these machines, older machines would be traded in as quickly as possible,” he said. “Some of the farmers who have bought a new harvester probably would have let the old one go and not have anything on farm to take the crop off with. “What the unions are doing with their dispute is causing an enormous amount of harm to people who are in no way involved in their fight.” A note issued on Sunday by Wallenius Wallenius Ocean, owner of the affected vessels, said the MUA’s actions were highly concerning for its customers who depended on the deliveries. “We are working closely with all relevant authorities to address the situation in which we and subsequently our customers have been boycotted by MUA, as third parties, despite all requirements to satisfy requests of vessel operations being carried out by unionised labour being met,” the note said. A statement from Patricks said the MUA had launched a round of nationwide strikes during the peak pre-Christmas freight period.