Dock brawl disrupting operations at major ports around the country

As representatives from stevedore DP World and the Maritime Union of Australia held talks on Thursday to try and resolve the deadlock, a spokesman for Employment and Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke urged the parties to "engage with the Fair Work Commission and find a solution".

The government has dismissed demands from the Opposition that it take a direct role in resolving the dispute.

Coalition trade spokesman Kevin Hogan has urged Mr Burke to act and "terminate this industrial action".

Mr Hogan said that the government's hands off approach meant that "families, who are already struggling with a cost-of-living crisis, will ultimately pay the price".

The call came amid the release of data showing the value of the nation's exports hit a six-month high of $46.3 billion late last year while imports of consumption goods including cars, clothes, toys, books, electronics and food slumped.

The strength of exports and fall in imports pushed the November trade balance to $11.4 billion, the strongest result since March last year, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The nation's strong trade performance is being driven by a combination of sustained high international prices for iron ore, coal, gas and grains, the falling cost of clothes, electronics, cars and other items as global supply chains have repaired, and soft domestic demand for consumer goods because of the intense pressure on household budgets from high inflation and interest rates.

Westpac economist Ryan Wells said consumer imports had dropped to their lowest level in nine months, underlying the patchiness in underlying demand.

The result, coming after data showed inflation slowed to 4.3 per cent in November, highlights the extent of the downturn in household spending as the Reserve Bank of Australia has acted to rein in inflation.

Market Economics managing director Stephen Koukoulas said the softness in imports also reflected, in part, a strong run-up in inventories in the September quarter.

Mr Koukoulas said many businesses found themselves with plenty of stock on hand going into the pre-Christmas trading period and cut back on their orders.

One of the biggest turnaround in imports was for cars. The value of passenger vehicle shipments to Australia fell 26 per cent in November to $2.8 billion after being well above $3.5 billion in preceding months.

Mr Koukoulas said car imports rebounded strongly early last year as the global supply chain issues that had hampered production were resolved and the backlog of orders started to come down.

He said car sales had been resilient despite the pressure on household budgets, but the drop in imports in November suggested dealers "have got enough in their inventory".

The operations of one of the country's biggest port operators, meanwhile, have been disrupted after workers imposed a series of work bans in support of their claim for more pay.

DP World Oceania claims more than 44,000 containers of goods have been stranded at its terminals in Brisbane, Fremantle, Melbourne and Sydney by the industrial action, at an estimated cost of $84 million a week.

Executive vice-president Nicolaj Noes on Wednesday threatened that workers who "cherry pick[ed]" tasks at work would not be paid.

Australian Council of Trade Unions president Michele O'Neil condemned the threat, accusing the company of trying to inflame the dispute.

"Mr Noes is saying that the company intends to try and escalate this dispute instead of fixing it," Ms O'Neil said.

The ACTU official told ABC radio the bans imposed by the workers had been "very moderate [and] limited" and DP Global's response was "really counterproductive".

The dispute has arisen over a push by port workers for more pay and concerns over changes to employment conditions.

Industry body Shipping Australia has accused the union of causing "severe harm" to the economy.

Chief executive officer Melwyn Noronha said the workers were "holding Australia to ransom [and] putting numerous jobs and livelihoods at risk".

But Mr Koukoulas said the dispute, while undoubtedly causing considerable distress for those who goods had been stranded, would so far have caused barely a ripple in the nation's $2.6 trillion economy.

He said the conflict would have to escalate substantially before its effects would become noticeable for most.