Barry Haase (Durack, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I find myself speaking on a motion moved by Ms Parke, the Labor member for Fremantle. At first I thought she was another puppet for Senator Brown and the Greens, until I did a little research on Ms Parke. Now I think that perhaps she would have stood as a Green had she not been standing for the electorate of Fremantle, a traditional Labor stronghold. I am quite sure Ms Parke could not have dreamt of a better parliament—Labor in government and the Greens in power. This 43rd Parliament allows Ms Parke to thrust her latte-coated opinions into the arena to appease the Greens without, she hopes, upsetting her voters.

Her first speech in federal parliament, given on 14 February 2008, contains the word 'indifference' six times, not including when the word was used in reference to a book titled My War Against Indifference. The definition of indifference can best be conveyed as a lack of interest, concern or sympathy—and the member seems to be standing by what is obviously one of her favourite and most self-descriptive words. She is showing indifference to the people in my patch and hers, although I am quite sure the member would not refer to her coffee strip as a patch.

Commercial fishing is worth $400 million to the Western Australian economy every year, and a lot of that goes through her port of Fremantle, the very same port from which in 1922 her great-grandfather John Stanley Parke and his son George were the first people to export Granny Smith apples to the world. I wonder what her forebears would think if they knew her mob had sold out the apple industry and all but endorsed the draft recommendations of Biosecurity Australia which advise that business as usual for New Zealand growers will qualify them to export apples into our country dripping with fire blight. I wonder what her great-grandfather would say if he could see her trying to stop a Western Australian primary industry for the sake of appeasing the greenies that are infiltrating the seat of Fremantle at a rate faster than a fishing boat trying to get back to shore before a storm. I do not mind the odd flutter, but I never hedge my own bets. I would hazard a guess as to her attitude regarding iron ore being transported through Fremantle, even though it is transported in containers. Don't get me wrong; I support the balanced approach to marine conservation. In fact, it was the coalition who began the process of establishing an integrated network of marine protected areas around Australia's coastline when previously in government. However, I do not support a government that has not been involved in extensive and cooperative consultation examining both the protection of biodiversity and a process to minimise social and economic impact on fishers, businesses and their communities.

This motion deeply concerns me, although there is one point of particular concern, and that is the provision of sufficient funding for the transition of commercial fishers' activities displaced by the establishment of marine parks. Correct me if I am wrong, but I have it on the very good authority of Guy Leyland, acting CEO of the West Australian Fishing Industry Council, that the member has not met or arranged to meet with anyone in Fremantle associated with the commercial fishing industry to discuss the impact of marine parks and displacement compensation. The Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water Pollution and Community, SEWPAC, has not included in their budget anything for displacement compensation. The budget allocation is for administration purposes of rezoning only. In fact, the rumoured word back from the industry is that the best case scenarios of compensation from SEWPAC are gross underestimates based on catch figures from 2006. History shows us the lack of consultation between bureaucrats and fishermen has led to bitterness and uncertainty. My fishermen are nervous and they have every right to be. Their financial future is at stake and the member and her Green friends are indifferent to their livelihoods. History also shows us that the compensation bill paid to businesses affected by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park blew out from $10 million to $250 million.

The fishing life is not a life for everyone but for those in the industry it is a life they are committed to and more often than not one that their family before them was also committed to. It is a life that takes its physical and emotional toll. Fishermen have to know where the fish are, how to catch them and how to sell them. They have to know the sea and be prepared for all possible outcomes. Now they need to be prepared for marine parks, with little or no consultation and in all probability little compensation for their family business. Marine parks and conservation are fine, but not without effective consultation and compensation. This current proposition looks like another harebrained Labor scheme, ill considered and designed only to appease Senator Brown and his dwindling band.

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