Alby Schultz (Hume, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

It gets better:

Why? Because AFMA will continue to apply sound policy to ensure that we will have sustainable fisheries now and into the future. For those reasons, the government opposes this motion.

That is what Joe Ludwig said in the Senate on 23 August 2012, when speaking on the motion to disallow the Small Pelagic Fishery Total Allowable Catch (Quota Species) Determination 2012.

Let us now talk about the science in relation to the other genius minister from this government. AFMA reaffirmed the science regarding the operations of the company on Monday. Minister Burke reaffirmed the science last week. Minister Ludwig reaffirmed the quota on 23 August and Labor voted on it on Monday, 10 September. The quota is not reduced. Burke called for 'large factory freezer vessels' in October 2009 when he was fisheries minister.

In general, I make this point: this legislation is just another tool for the Greens and environmental groups to campaign against our fishing industry. Minister Burke's concerns are based on the capacity of the vessel to fish in one place for a considerable time. The solution to that problem of course could have been to amend the Fisheries Act to allow move-on provisions or spatial management that would prevent localised impacts. The coalition would have supported those moves. Minister Burke is saying, 'If you don't know everything, do nothing.' Minister Burke is not trying to find a way to make it work. He has been desperately looking for some way to lock up more water.

Minister Burke has trashed the reputation of the AFMA commission, and he appointed every member of that commission. Minister Burke has also trashed the reputations of our world-leading scientific community and institutions who had done the science. This government have demonstrated once again that, if you do everything asked of you and then some extra, it is not enough: they will shaft you, they will shaft your business and they will shaft your employees. How can any business operate in an environment such as this? This government now operate on the basis that if a minister is uncertain then nothing should happen. Worse still, this minister did not take steps to find the answer to the things he was uncertain about. He just shut the business down. What message does this give to our researchers and innovators? 'Don't explore your science' means nothing. I think I have said enough on this.

In closing I will quote from a media release by the Australian Marine Alliance:

In summary, skeptics could see this as an insidious ploy to achieve a pre-determined Green outcome with a massive decoy. Regardless of the hypothesis recreational and professional fishermen do not deserve to be punished any more due to Ministerial incompetence.

I think that says it all.

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