Kirsten Livermore (Capricornia, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

When I submitted this notice of motion condemning the Newman government for its attacks on recreational fishing, I thought I would be making quite a statement on behalf of rec fishers in Central Queensland and across the state. Here was my opportunity to get stuck into this shocking government, condemning it in the strongest terms for its arrogant and dismissive treatment of this important section of the community and a significant part of our local economy. But, as it turns out, condemnation of the Newman government does not have quite the same currency today that I expected it would. Condemning the Newman government is becoming quite a crowded field—now everyone is in on the act.

In just the past couple of days we have had Clive Palmer—life member of the LNP and the man who bankrolled the party into power—resign from the party in protest against what Campbell Newman is doing to Queensland. And yesterday we got the news that Ray Hopper, a long-serving LNP member of parliament, has left the party to sit in parliament as a member of the Katter party. He, too, did not want to be part of what the Newman LNP government is dishing out to Queensland and to regional Queensland in particular. When it comes to condemning the Newman government, it is hard for me to compete with the likes of Clive Palmer when he says:

… the current government is much worse than anything that was around at the time of the Fitzgerald inquiry—

and—

… I do think the government is crooked.

It is strange days indeed when I find myself in the same camp as Clive Palmer, but these are strange days in Queensland and dark days, too, under the leadership of Campbell Newman and the LNP government.

Amongst the many groups in Queensland who are feeling let down and under attack from the LNP government is recreational fishers and their representatives in Sunfish. Before the state election in March, the LNP told recreational fishers in writing that, if elected:

… an LNP government will work closely with stakeholders to enhance the experience of recreational fishers in Queensland.

Like so many others in Queensland, such as public servants, rural firefighters and community service organisations, recreational fishers are now learning that the LNP's promises are worth nothing now that it is in power—and in absolute power in a way never seen before in our state or any other. Barely eight months after the election, the Newman led LNP state government has already broken its pre-election promises regarding its support for recreational fishing and is in the process of setting back fisheries management in Queensland to failed models that were consigned to history in Australia a decade or more ago.

Recreational fishing in Queensland has been an integral part of the state's culture and heritage since white settlement. In its own election policy statements, the LNP promoted the fact that there are currently over 750,000 Queenslanders who enjoy recreational fishing and promised that it would 'restore the health of Queensland's fishery'. Up to 30 per cent of the population of some coastal regions in Queensland engage in this healthy outdoor activity and contribute, conservatively, many millions of dollars into the state's economy every year. So it is extremely concerning to watch the new LNP state government now thumb its nose at recreational fishers and withdraw funding from a range of critically important programs and initiatives.

These cuts include: an $8 million cut from the fisheries budget, 60 jobs cut from fisheries Queensland, the cessation of funding to Sunfish Queensland, the cessation of the fisheries observer program, the cessation of the industry development program for commercial and recreational fishing, the cessation of the Fishcare volunteer program and the cutting of all funding to the national Fisheries Research and Development Corporation, which is about the future of fisheries in our state and, indeed, Australia. The list goes on.

Of particular concern to recreational fishers in Central Queensland is the way these cuts will hit fish-stocking groups and the internationally recognised and acclaimed Suntag fish-tagging program—the brainchild of Bill Sawnyok in my electorate. The recreational fishing community feel betrayed by a government that said nothing about these cuts before the election. Robin Caddy, President of the Freshwater Fishing and Stocking Association of Queensland, said of the cuts, 'To be treated in this manner is deplorable.' David Bateman, Chairman of Sunfish, said in Bush 'n Beach Fishing magazine that his delegates were astounded that the government's first actions were to cut recreational fishing community projects.

Recreational fishers and their representatives—as members here from Queensland and elsewhere know—are passionate and knowledgeable about their sport of fishing, and deserve to have their concerns and ideas about fisheries management taken seriously by the state government. They have important things to say about the best models for fisheries management and need to be listened to.

It has been reported to me by constituents who attended the National Recreational Fishing Conference, on the Gold Coast in August this year, that they were actually embarrassed to admit they came from Queensland when they saw all the good things being done in other states by fisheries departments. Interestingly, it should be noted that Senator Joe Ludwig, the Commonwealth minister with responsibility for fisheries, attended and spoke at the national conference. I believe that the federal government put some sponsorship towards that national conference as well. The federal minister attended while Queensland's fisheries minister McVeigh declined the invitation to attend and was, in fact, conspicuous by his absence. Deputy Speaker, what sort of message did that send to recreational fishers in Queensland? I have a fair idea about how recreational fishers are feeling when I returned from a glorious day out on Keppel Bay in our family's tinny in early October. The carpark at the Rosslyn Bay boat ramp was absolutely packed, and every vehicle had a notice on its windscreen telling boaties and fishers about what the LNP state government is proposing to do with the money they paid towards recreational fishing initiatives.

Since the mid-1990s, Queensland recreational boat owners have been paying an additional levy—I think it is about $18—on top of their annual boat registration payment. That levy has been specifically quarantined to be used for the direct benefit of recreational fishers in Queensland. This levy was introduced as a recommendation of the Labor Party's groundbreaking Burns inquiry into recreational fishing in Queensland. Of course, that reference to the Burns inquiry is a reference to the beloved Tom Burns who members on this side of the House and most Queenslanders would recognise as one of the strongest advocates for recreational fishers, and indeed one of the strongest practitioners of recreational fishing that you could find. That was originally called the private pleasure vessel levy, but evolved into the recreational use fee a decade or so ago. However, these funds have continued to be largely directed to programs and projects that do benefit recreational fishing, that is, until now. Unofficial advice from Fisheries Queensland to Sunfish members has confirmed that around half of the funds raised this year from the recreational user fee—an estimated $4½ million—will be directed towards the core business operations of the agency. So, it is not for fish-tagging programs, not for fish-stocking programs, not for the teach your kids to fish programs that have been so popular amongst the recreational fishing community. In other words, the Newman government is raiding funds that come from the recreational fishing community to pay for the core operational costs of running its department. The minister has denied this, but we are getting used to the Queensland government running for cover when the community starts to react to its broken promises and cuts to important programs and services.

The fact is that the cuts to jobs and programs and attacks on community-level organisations, which Sunfish is campaigning against, are completely consistent with the Newman government's approach and track record in government. The recreational fishing community is now experiencing the same treatment from the Newman government as so many other parts of Queensland—cuts in funding and scrapping of programs that had broad community support and denigration by the government when they dared to oppose its destructive agenda. Cutting funding to the peak body, Sunfish, and sidelining it from involvement in fishing policies is an attempt to shut down opposition from the sector. In my 15 years of experience, I have found Sunfish to be a valuable voice in issues and debates regarding matters that affect the recreational fishing community and the fishing sector more broadly. I especially remember and pay tribute to the leadership shown by local Sunfish representatives at the time that we were trying to get the best outcome for Central Queensland fishers from the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park's Green Zone process 10 years ago. Local Sunfish delegates worked closely with me and the chair of GBRMPA at the time, the Hon. Virginia Chadwick, and played a very constructive role in coordinating the views of our local fishing community and putting them forward to GBRMPA to achieve a successful outcome.

Most recreational fishers prefer just to go fishing rather getting involved in politics. However, I am seeing a growing anger among the recreational fishing community in Queensland, which is going to result in a backlash against the arrogance of the Newman government. I wish this sector and their representatives all the best, and will support their efforts where I can. I know I am joined by my stage Labor colleague the member for Rockhampton, Bill Byrne, who will be speaking on this matter in state parliament tomorrow night.

Ewen Jones (Herbert, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the matter before the house. I am a great supporter of Sunfish. I think they are great organisation. The Deputy Mayor of Townsville, Vern Veitch, is a former North Queensland representative of Sunfish. The member for Capricornia has said that the organisation is going to be decimated and that it is going to go away. It is a membership based organisation and what the Newman government has done is remove funding from a membership based organisation. It is not the death of Sunfish—far from it—and it is not the death of recreational fishing as she would have you believe. As a matter of fact, expenditure on recreational fishing services in 2012-13 will be in excess of $10 million from the Newman state government such as: compliance, surveillance and enforcement, including boat ramp signage and community service announcements, of over $3.2 million; communication and educational programs, including a free handbook for recreational fishers of $500,000; fish-stocking and recovery programs; pet fish education and marine habitat protection of $2 million; research, monitoring and reporting activities of $2.8 million; and scientific assessment and policy development of $2 million. Those are the things that, I think, the member for Capricornia may very well want to look back on.

I will include 100 per cent support for her words towards Tom Burns. Recreational fishing in Queensland has never had a better friend than Tom Burns and it is a legend that is boat was called The Electorate. When people would ring up his office and need to speak to the member they would say, 'I'm sorry, Mr Burns is out in The Electorate', which would be out on the bay having a good fish.

Let us be very realistic about this, only three per cent of recreational fishers are members of Sunfish which is a membership based organisation. Well may the member for Capricornia talk about growing anger in the recreational fishing public. It is not the problems we are having with Sunfish at the moment, it is the problem we are having with this government and the closure of the Coral Sea. I did not hear the member for Capricornia talk about this government's closure of the Coral Sea. I did not hear her talk about the lack of science or the lack of any sort of science based on making the decision to close the Coral Sea. What I hear is the minister for environment Mr Burke say that the science was specifically excluded from the decision to close the Coral Sea.

We campaigned hard in 2010 and said that a vote for Labor was a vote to close down the Coral Sea. I was on a radio fishing show with the then-candidate for the Labor Party at that election. He poked me in the chest and said, over the airwaves, that it was something starting with 'bull' and ending with the letter 'T'. He said it would not happen and that he would cross the floor if it did happen. We said that the problem you have here is that the Labor Party is beholden to the Greens. Whatever the Greens say they will do. So, straight up, they form the government and go straight to closing the Coral Sea. The Pew Foundation was in North Queensland for nearly 2½ days, and this government just jumped on it and closed the Coral Sea, without one ounce of science.

While this has been going on the operational funding for the Australian Institute of Marine Science has been cut. They have a $120 million boat sitting down at the wharf that they cannot afford to operate as they should. I should back up Minister Burke here. The recreational fisher, with the closure of the Coral Sea, is not under such great duress. It is a long way from the base at Townsville, about 300 kilometres. The recreational fishers are asking, 'What's going to happen next?' As with everything else, the government have a flippant disregard for what they said before the election. They said there would be no carbon tax, that they would not touch private health insurance or the Chronic Disease Dental Scheme and that there would be cuts in company tax. They do backflips galore. What the recreational fishers are most worried about is what is going to happen next. Straightaway GetUp has mounted a campaign, the 'Protect our Coral Sea' campaign, urging you to do all you can to protect a special place from future development through a comprehensive and effective management plan—to extend the marine park zone around Shark, Vema and Osprey reefs off Cairns. Within two weeks of the decision coming down, the government are beholden to the Greens and already a campaign to close out recreational fishers is happening. So, if you experience extreme anger from recreational fishers every time you pull up to put a tinnie in the water, it will be because the government cannot be trusted.

We went to the 2010 elections saying that we would stop this, but we have not been able to. We had a recreational fishing forum in Townsville just recently. The forum wanted it recognised that the ability to go out the front and have a fish is part of our lifestyle. The recreational fishers in Townsville want it recognised that they are the environment's friend, not its enemy. There is no-one in North Queensland or Central Queensland going out the front and dropping sticks of gelignite in the water as this government seems to be portraying the recreational fishers doing.

The Howard government established the green zones. There was a lot of disquiet about the establishment of green zones. But the recreational fishers are admitting that the establishment of green zones off the coast of Australia has been a fantastic success. What we need to do now is extend that to establish artificial reefs so that when those fish get hunted off the green zones they have somewhere to go and can get bigger. We need to have an artificial reef in a yellow zone, where you would have no anchor and either trawl or have one fish/one rod and fish those areas there. That is what recreational fishermen want. The recreational fisher wants something positive from this government, and this government is doing everything it can to make it harder for the recreational fisher—because this government is beholden to the Greens. This government is prepared to sacrifice everyone in Queensland so that every Vespa riding, black skivvy wearing, soy latte drinking Greenie in the inner cities of Sydney and Melbourne can sit there and vote for them. They are prepared to kiss it goodbye.

All the way through this, we do support the recreational fisher and we do support the commercial fishing industry. Sunfish, as I said, is a membership based organisation. When left with 20 years of Labor mismanagement, there are some things that are very uncomfortable to do. As I said before, when it comes down to what is actually happening there—and you will see what the Newman government is doing for recreational fishers—it is a very, very good picture. Sunfish is not going to go away. Sunfish is a membership based organisation. As with everything else, it will have its state funding removed and then can go and approach more people. More than three per cent of the recreational fishers are members of Sunfish. Sunfish as an organisation must grow that. All the way through this, you see what the Newman government has done.

Mr Neumann interjecting—

In excess of $10 million for recreational fishers in 2012-13. The Campbell Newman led government in Queensland is the government that cares about all Queenslanders—not like this federal Labor government, who are prepared to kiss goodbye to everyone in Queensland to try and shore up some seats in inner-city Sydney and Melbourne. That is what the federal Labor government are trying to do. They are doing everything they possibly can to destroy recreational fishing in North Queensland—and they should be stopped. Sunfish is a great organisation and can continue to be a great organisation, but it must develop its ownership base and adjust its focus to continue to be a great organisation. I thank the House.

Yvette D'Ath (Petrie, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak in support of the motion from the member for Capricornia and thank the member for bringing this very important motion forward so that people can hear the truth. I thank the member for Herbert for putting some truth in this debate. Finally we have a member of the opposition telling the truth about the marine parks and how far away the Coral Sea is from Townsville. I think the member for Herbert's words were that recreational fishers will not be affected because the Coral Sea is over 300 kilometres away from Townsville. Thank you for actually saying that. It was a long time coming. I will get to how far it is from Redcliffe Peninsula shortly.

I want to acknowledge the damage being done to Queensland's recreational fishing industry by the LNP and to voice my support for recreational fishers, particularly in and around my electorate of Petrie, which is bound by beautiful Moreton Bay. Just to recap, since his election Campbell Newman and the LNP government have cut $8 million from the fisheries budget, 60 jobs from fisheries Queensland, front-line fisheries researchers and funding for the National Fisheries Research and Development Corporation. But that was not enough. The LNP have also scrapped the funding for Sunfish Queensland, discontinued the Fishcare volunteer program, slashed the fisheries observer program, scaled back the freshwater fishing program, restructured the Queensland boating and fisheries patrol and rationalised Brisbane based senior management support services. And it is not just recreational fishers that Campbell Newman has in his sights. The LNP have also ceased the industry development program for commercial and recreational fishing and cut $125,000 from the Queensland Seafood Industry Association.

I know that locals in my community love to throw a line out in Moreton Bay and I do too. I know that Sunfish have always stood up for the right to do just that and I thank them for the advocacy over the years. There are four LNP state members across my electorate and not one of them has stood up to Campbell Newman on this issue. These cuts come despite pre-election promises by the Premier that the Public Service has nothing to fear and that the government would work with recreational fishers to enhance their experiences. Instead we find that by 'enhance' the LNP really meant 'cut' and when the LNP said they would not cut front-line services like fisheries officers they really meant that they would redefine the positions first. I thank Minister Ludwig, federal Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, for his representations to the LNP on behalf of recreational fishers and I look forward to hearing an explanation for this latest round of cuts, which are further damaging local communities like mine.

But it is not just LNP state members who owe local fishers an apology. Fishers across Moreton Bay and Brisbane's northside also deserve an apology and an explanation from the federal opposition over their recent scare campaign around the Coral Sea marine reserves. We heard from the member for Herbert about the rallies and protests against the impact on the marine park. The federal Liberal Party were so desperate to con locals in my area on this issue that they even distributed incorrect maps throughout my community, until we caught them out. On 14 November I was thrilled to hosts the Petrie community cabinet at Hercules Road State School on the Redcliffe Peninsula, where the Prime Minister, environment minister and fisheries minister took questions from residents on this issue. One woman, Wendy, asked if the Liberals were right when they said that locals would only be able to fish in their bathtubs from now on. The answer was a resounding no, and I thank the minister for the environment for setting the record straight on that occasion. The fact is that local fishers would have to travel over 400 kilometres from the Redcliffe Peninsula to visit our marine reserves. There are not a lot of tinnies equipped for that journey. In fact, the local candidates and Senator Boyce were all out there in Lilley, across the bridge from Redcliffe Peninsula. They have photos on their websites of a tinny with the bay right in the background. It must be a really good camera to be out further than 400 kilometres and make a tinny look like it is sitting near the beach with a line thrown in.

I make no apologies for protecting our environment for future generations. I congratulate the environment minister on the recent declaration and I thank the many residents in my electorate who have written to me in support of our action on this issue. The Gillard government is a strong supporter of Australian recreational fishing. That is why we developed and held roundtables chaired by the fisheries minister to hear directly from the industries. We have to have a balanced approach on this issue. I do not believe it is balanced when we hear from the member for Herbert that it is okay for the state government to take funding away from organisations if they are member based organisations. Go and tell all of my community organisations that are member based organisations: 'You should welcome these cuts. You can go out and get more members. It's a great way to build your organisation.' Organisations across the board are suffering in my community, including in fisheries and recreational fisheries; Sunfish is one of those. We stand by the great work they have done. We stand by our recreational fishers.

George Christensen (Dawson, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am very surprised that this motion has even been raised in this place, because what we have here is a Labor government criticising a state government for cleaning up Labor's mess in Queensland. The colossal amount of Labor wastes in the resource-rich state of Queensland managed to send the state broke in the middle of the biggest mining boom that the state has ever seen. Such was Labor's track record for economic stupidity, so sick were taxpayers of seeing their tax dollars wasted, they delivered the most crushing electoral defeat on record for Labor. The reality for us Queenslanders is this: every day that we collectively get out of our beds we have to find $12 million just to pay the interest on the debt legacy that Labor left Queensland. That is $12 million a day, $84 million a week, over $360 million a month and over $1 billion a quarter, just in interest on Labor's debt. To put it in simple terms, in a bit over three days in Queensland the money we spend on interest alone—not paying off debt, just the interest on Labor's debt—could have been used to build a new school, maybe in Gracemere near the Capricornia electorate, or certainly in the member for Flynn's electorate.

Every five weeks we spend enough money on interest for Labor's debt to build a new state-of-the-art regional hospital—perhaps it could have been used to build a new Rockhampton regional hospital. In six weeks the money spent on paying interest on Labor's debt could have paid for a complete upgrade of the Peak Downs Highway in the Capricornia electorate. If you wonder why spending on non-essential needs should be cut, then you have to look no further than the Australian Labor Party.

Here we have this Labor government, having posted the four biggest budget deficits in history, lecturing the Queensland government about how to spend money. What is worse is that Labor would have us believe through this motion that they are somehow the fisherman's friend. What a joke! It is like Wile E. Coyote asking the Road Runner out for a date. They have the hide to come in here and pretend to be the friend of the fishermen and try to shift the focus from their own ineptitude. The sheer hypocrisy of it coming from the same government that cut funding to RecFish, the peak body representing recreational fishers in this nation, on the ground that the organisation might disagree with them. And Labor are criticising the Queensland government for doing exactly the same thing. What debt did Labor have to pay off to cut the funding to RecFish, the national recreational fishing body? This Labor government is now wasting $100 million of taxpayer funds to shut down commercial fishing and give zero compensation to recreational fishing throughout all of the marine park closures around Australia.

This Labor government encouraged a super trawler to come to Australia, and then when the political heat came on it rewrote the law to give the environment minister the power to ban it, Then the government also gave him the power to shut down any new fishing activity in Commonwealth waters. These are all purely political motivations that are stopping criticism from key stakeholders and pandering to the Greens. Why is it that the Greens, who have but one representative in this House, are driving all the policy decisions? Is it because the Labor Party has no idea what to do? When your only skill is to waste money you need direction from somewhere, I suppose, but instead of talking with stakeholders the Labor Party takes its directions from a fringe party whose aim is to shut down every industry in Australia and set civilisation back 1,000 years.

Labor and the Greens are not the fisherman's friend. Labor and the Greens have no understanding about recreational fishing. Firmly wedged in their inner-city, latte-sipping suburbs, they think that seafood comes from restaurant kitchens and, maybe, the supermarket. They would not know a potato cod from a potato. For the benefit of those members opposite, I seek leave to table documents on the potato cod and the potato that show the difference.

Bruce Scott (Maranoa, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is leave granted?

A government member: No.

Leave is not granted.

George Christensen (Dawson, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

They do not even want to know the difference. Information about the potato cod tabled or not, we know that these guys are prepared to mash the recreational and commercial fishing industry. They do not know fish, they do not know fishing, they do not know boats—unless they are full of illegals! We have the environment minister out there trying to sell the Coral Sea lockout, saying, 'Mums and dads are not going to take their tinny 300 kilometres out to sea.' Most of them do not take tinnies anywhere. If the environment minister took the time to go and look in the Mackay marina, for instance, he would not find tinnies docked there but very sophisticated and expensive craft that are capable of going out on five-day fishing trips, out beyond 300 kilometres. In North Queensland we have charter fishing companies that every day take people out to iconic and remote fishing locations for days at a time—places like Marion Reef, which Labor is going to shut down under these marine parks. If the environment minister consulted with the fishing industry he would know that, but instead he is too busy sending away to the Acme Company for the latest contraption to catch the latest roadrunner that the Greens are telling him to catch. Just like Wile E. Coyote, everything Labor has touched ends in disaster.

Shayne Neumann (Blair, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

They cannot even defend their own state government's policies. As a fellow Queenslander I thank the member for Capricornia for making this House aware of the needless pain and anxiety experienced by public sector workers, by community groups, by service providers and by ordinary men and women in the fishing industry perpetrated and perpetuated by Campbell Newman and the LNP state government across Queensland. In my electorate, whether you are in the rural parts or in urban parts like Ipswich, the sentiment is the same; the common complaint is the same; the refrain is the same: Campbell Newman and the state LNP government in Queensland have betrayed the people of Queensland. It is not just union members, public sector workers and community sector workers; it is also recreational fisher men and women. Campbell Newman and the LNP government have misled them all. The LNP's own policy document for the state election said:

An LNP government will also commit to no forced redundancies.

What a joke! The Premier of Queensland also said, in April 2011, when he took over the role as LNP leader:

… the public service has nothing to fear from me.

What right-wing claptrap! It is not just bureaucrats, it is not just fat cats—as he would describe them—it is doctors and nurses, it is rural fire brigade officers, it is community workers and it is even recreational fishers. Perhaps he considers Sunfish Queensland to be a bastion of highly paid officials all living large of the public largesse. You will even hear that from the tone of those opposite. Before the Queensland election, the LNP told recreational fishers that 'an LNP government will work closely with stakeholders to enhance the experience of recreational fishers in Queensland'. At best, that is another broken promise; at worst, that is an example of blatant disregard for honesty within the Queensland LNP state government.

In contrast, this federal Labor government, despite the bleatings, whinings and moanings of those opposite, is a strong supporter of the Australian recreational fishing industry. We developed and held recreational fishing roundtables chaired by the federal Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Senator Joseph Ludwig, bringing the sector straight to government. We supported the National Recreational Fishing Conference and we funded and implemented the national strategy for recreational fishing. At present we are engaged in the biggest single review of fisheries legislation in the history of the Commonwealth and we are looking at how the recreational sector fits into that framework. We have been able to balance the needs and rights of recreational fishers with the need to protect the environment. In Queensland, the LNP government has slashed and burned—not just in the public sector but also across the recreational fishing industries.

We know that the arrogant actions of the LNP state government in Queensland will be replicated by those opposite. We cannot trust anything their state colleagues in Queensland say, nor their federal counterparts. More hollow words and spin we have heard from the member for Herbert and the member for Dawson today.

But what have the LNP state government in Queensland done? They have cut $8 million from the fisheries budget. They have cut 60 jobs. They have ceased the fisheries observer program. They have ceased the Queensland Fishcare volunteers program. They have ceased operational activity for waterway barrier works and construction. They have cut all funding to the national Fisheries Research and Development Corporation. Again and again they have slashed and burned. They have not provided funding for the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation this year and they have axed all funding to Sunfish Queensland.

The stakeholders are livid about this. Look at what they have said. Mr Robin Caddy, President of the Freshwater Fishing and Stocking Association of Queensland, said—as quoted in Bush 'n Beach Fishing magazine—of the cuts by the LNP state government: 'To be treated in this manner is deplorable.' Mr David Bateman, the chair of Sunfish, said that his delegates 'were astounded that the government's first action was to cut recreational fishing community projects', as quoted in that same magazine. Sunfish also said a recent letter from the LNP state minister in Queensland, Minister McVeigh, was full of 'electioneering, half-truths and inaccuracies'. The Queensland Seafood Industry Association, in its media release of 27 September, said this: 'The Queensland Seafood Industry Association has expressed serious concern about cutbacks to services announced in Fisheries Queensland. In particular, discontinuing the fisheries observer program and withdrawing funding to the federal government's Fisheries Research and Development Corporation are worrying.' That is what the stakeholders say. Those opposite cannot quote stakeholders, we know, because the stakeholders are livid with what they have done. They go on with their disingenuous argument, completely scaremongering, about what we have done in terms of Coral Sea Marine Park announcements and management.

The member for Herbert in his speech told the truth when it came to the distances and the fact that these marine parks will do good for the environment, but they will not impinge on the recreational fishing industry. Those opposite should stand up to Campbell Newman and stand up for Queensland.

Ken O'Dowd (Flynn, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The motion highlights that the federal government is completely out of touch with the Australian fishing industry. They are clearly in no position to be critical of the Queensland state government given the lockup of vast areas of our fishing based on a whim. More than 100 regional communities and many more businesses throughout Australia rely on the fishing industry for their livelihoods, but, despite this, the proportion of wild catch in Australia represents just 0.002 per cent of production worldwide. We export $1.5 billion and import $2.5 billion worth of product, which makes Australia a net importer of fish product. Australian seafood only makes up 30 per cent of domestic supply. Our fishers operate to world's best practice. Of the 70 per cent of imported product, three countries make up the bulk of that figure: Thailand, 26 per cent; China, 14 per cent; and Vietnam, 12 per cent. In 2009, an estimation of adherence to the UN code of conduct put Australia fourth out of 53 countries. Vietnam was ranked 45th, Thailand was ranked 42nd and China was ranked 22nd.

Like many other industries in this country, Australian fishers operate to world's best practice. Queensland already has a massive area of its waters under protection, which in itself is not a bad thing. However, knowing that we can barely monitor and police the current no-go-zones, locking up more of our waters will only open the back door for illegal operators. We currently cannot control the number of people coming to Australia and we certainly cannot control illegal fishing in our northern waters, and probably other waters around Australia. Northern Australia is virtually: 'Look on—we can't do anything about it because we haven't got the manpower to control the reefs.' There are no species of fish in Queensland waters that are under threat and there was no need to increase the Coral Sea by 2.3 million square kilometres. There was no scientific evidence to support this closure.

A government member: Rubbish!

That is not rubbish, my friend. Read the facts. The Queensland LNP government have cut off a measly $200,000 from Sunfish, which is an industry based organisation and only has three per cent community membership. The minister has announced that the government will no longer fund bodies such as Sunfish and Suntag. The government was voted in by the Queensland people and they have had to cut costs. The Anna Bligh government ran the state into the ground and there had to be cutbacks somewhere.

Shayne Neumann (Blair, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Sacking people in your electorate—that is a good idea, is it?

Ken O'Dowd (Flynn, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Sacking the government was a good idea, I can tell you that. The people of Queensland have spoken and now Campbell Newman has the mandate to make these changes. In fact, everyone knows he has to in response to the appalling state of the Queensland economy. It is the worst of any state in Australia, including Tasmania. We are badly off. To anyone who lives in Queensland: if you do not know that, you do not know much.

Tony Burke is the single biggest threat to recreational fishers of Queensland. He did not listen to Sunfish or anyone else when he made his decisions on the extended marine park network. The Australian recreational fishing industry is the largest stakeholder affected by this lockout. These fishers are locked out forever—not for just one day, one month or one year—and there is no compensation as such. There is no compensation for on-land stakeholders either. I am talking about boat shops, tackle shops and the like, and they support the community and our economic base. Just two weeks ago, Mr Burke locked up another 2.3 million square kilometres to Australian fisheries. This is a disgrace. He we are, an island nation, and we are importing more than we are exporting. That in itself should tell you a story. We do not need any more interference into our fishing. It should be more like New Zealand who have a self managed industry and it works very well. We should listen to them a little bit more often in this particular case. It simply highlights that the Labor government has no desire to admit that their policies are hurting the Australian fishing industry, which are not based on any scientific evidence whatsoever. (Time expired)

Janelle Saffin (Page, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In listening to the honourable member for Flynn speaking—can I say I like the honourable member for Flynn and he seems like a good fellow—how can it be a good idea to cut jobs in your own electorates? It is never a good idea no matter who does it. People can claim all sorts of mandates, but the fact is there is no mandate for the Queensland Premier to do it. I am speaking in support of this motion for a number of reasons. I live in New South Wales, not in Queensland. I live in the Northern Rivers.

Shayne Neumann (Blair, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

She comes from Ipswich.

Janelle Saffin (Page, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Yes, I grew up in Ipswich as the honourable member for Blair said. I am in an area where I see all this happening just over the border. I have been watching all the things that Premier Campbell Newman has been doing by taking the axe to the public service, to services, to the community and to projects and programs that matter in the community. What can matter more than recreational fishing? Recreational fishing is huge Australia-wide. It is huge in my seat of Page. We have recreational fishers everywhere. Even if you were not able to make a decision on policy grounds, why would you go and put the axe through recreational fishing programs on political grounds alone? Equally, it is also an industry. It is a huge industry with a huge economic base in regional areas. That is an important point to focus on and remember. By cutting their programs, cutting money to them, it has an impact at a regional economic level and it does not make sense to do it.

In watching what is going on in Queensland, some of it was going on in New South Wales with Premier O'Farrell. But Premier Newman seems to have emboldened Premier O'Farrell even more. He has taken the axe to programs left, right and centre. Anything that is not bolted down is up for the axe. In my area alone we have had the issue of Grafton jail. It was to close and then they wound it down and nearly 100 jobs would go. Jobs are going in TAFE. There are billions of dollars going out of TAFE.

Honourable members interjecting—

Well, there is a jail and it provides a lot of jobs to local people. You cannot replicate those jobs easily and they have gone. There is the whole spin-off effect in the local area. Also the slasher is going through TAFE.

Government members interjecting—

It is a shame. People can say, 'We want smaller government.' But this is ridiculous. These are front line people who deliver services. The ambos have been affected too as well as the firies.

Honourable members interjecting—

Yes, the rural fire brigade as well as the fire service are all being affected. On Friday night in Lismore I opened a fine art exhibition at Lismore TAFE which was called 'Last Draw'. It was actually the last of its kind because the program that they run is also being axed. There were over 100 students there and some of them were from a whole range of backgrounds, and a lot of them end up with work. We have a huge creative industry in my area. It is an industry in its own right and it provides enormous economic benefits to the community. It is really short-sighted to put the axe through programs like this. There were over 100 students there from a whole range of diverse backgrounds. It has given some of them a whole new life. Some of them were in recovery. They have done this course. It has given them a place to belong; it has also given them skills that they can go out into the community and earn money with.

When I look at what is happening to recreational fishing in Queensland I look with alarm, and I realise what it has done to Sunfish Queensland Inc. I have read all of their statements and they say:

The Queensland Government fully supports recreational fishing in Queensland.

Then why is its first act to cut funding to voluntary community recreational projects?

John Cobb (Calare, National Party, Shadow Minister for Agriculture and Food Security) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on this motion with amazement. I cannot believe the barefaced cheek of the member for Capricornia in daring to point the finger at the Queensland government when, without doubt, the biggest threat to recreational fishing is the federal Labor government. It reminds me of the statement the member for Griffith, Kevin Rudd, made before the 2007 election. He said: 'The Howard government's reckless spending must stop.' Isn't that a joke! The Howard government inherited a $96 billion national government debt, which we turned into an unencumbered $20 billion surplus. In comparison, Labor turned the $20 billion surplus into a very greatly encumbered $150 billion black hole in considerably less than five years. Labor's mismanagement of the country has included live exports, the super trawler, pink batts et cetera, not to mention the mining tax, which is a new low even for them—a tax which ended up costing the government money.

For the Labor Party, the reality is irrelevant as long as you tell the public you are doing the right thing. The member for Capricornia's motion is surely an own goal. Labor and Minister Burke are clearly the bigger threats to recreational fishing. It was the member for Watson, as Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, who removed all funding from the recreational fishing peak body, Recfish, in 2010, an act that was surely revenge for Recfish's daring to question the minister and lobby against the minister to try to bring some common sense into this debate. It was Minister Burke as fisheries minister who refused to take phone calls over the government's decision to ban mako shark fishing in 2010. He hid. And it was Minister Burke as Minister for Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities who has locked up another 2.3 million square kilometres of Australia's oceans. The Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences socioeconomic analysis into the impact of this massive lockup of ocean did not even consider recreational fishers. Recreational fishers, understandably, are not that happy with the federal government. There is no compensation for recreational fishers and the associated fishing industry, boat shops, tackle shops and the communities they support.

We are not just being critical. You may ask: what will we do? The coalition supports maritime protection that is based on peer reviewed science and developed in consultation with the community, and that clearly includes recreational fishers. We recognise that Australia's fisheries are amongst the best managed in the world. The coalition is committed to restoring balance and a future coalition government will appoint a science based panel to review all boundaries and all zones. The coalition has introduced a 'Making marine parks accountable' amendment to the EPBC Act into the parliament. This legislation requires the environment minister to commission an independent social and economic impact assessment before any proclamations are made, obtain independent peer reviewed scientific advice before making any proclamations and for this advice to be publicly available, and establish independent scientific reference panels and stakeholder advisory groups for each region to ensure rigorous decision making. The proclamation of many reserves will be disallowable, meaning it will be subject to the scrutiny of both houses of the Australian parliament. The coalition in opposition is doing what the government should be doing in government: implementing sound policy.

What has Labor really done for recreational fishers? It has ignored their phone calls. It has pitted stakeholder groups against one another—fishing against environment, even recreational fishing interests against commercial fishing interests. They have locked Aussies out of Australian oceans.

Honourable Members:

Honourable members interjecting—

They have completely removed funding from the recreational fishers' peak industry body in an act of revenge. They have failed to understand or even investigate the impact of marine parks on recreational fishers and the important economic contribution recreational fishing makes to coastal communities. They have pandered to the whims of green groups ahead of Australia's recreational fishing communities. They have changed the laws to suit their political purpose rather than sound science. Labor is no friend of recreational or any other fishers and this motion is a sham. (Time expired)

Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise in support of the member for Capricornia's wonderful motion to oppose the Queensland Liberal National Party government's gutting of Sunfish and funding for major recreational fishing programs. Sadly, it has only been six months, but I am again rising in this place to oppose the Liberal National Party cuts occurring in Queensland, whether it be job cuts, cuts to programs such as the Queensland Literacy Awards, cuts to the TB clinic in Brisbane, cuts to breast screening, cuts to funding for taxi vouchers to people with disability, and I could go on.

I note there is an ongoing theme when I rise to speak about the Liberal National Party, which is always to do with cuts. On this particular occasion, obviously, it is to do with the LNP cuts to the recreational fishing programs. I did not hear the speeches from the member for Herbert or the member for Dawson. I did hear the member for Flynn and the member for Calare, and I note that for all four of those speakers—if I take my advice from the member from Blair—none of them actually said that Campbell Newman's decision to cut the funding for Sunfish was a good policy. None of them said that it is right. So all pressure rests on the member for Wright to stand up and defend this decision to cut jobs up the east coast of Queensland. I look forward to the member Wright, who is a good bloke and will obviously stand up and defend, because there was a damning silence from the member for Flynn when it came to supporting Campbell Newman's decision to cut. The member for Calare just went off on a frolic of his own, which was the same speech he has been giving for the last 20 years. It went straight back to 1996. That is the vision for the future. He goes straight to 1996, yet he is the modern face of the Liberal and National parties on that side of the chamber.

But let us look to the cuts to fishing in Queensland by the Newman government. To date they have: cut $8 million the Fisheries budget; cut 60 jobs from Fisheries Queensland with many of those jobs in Flynn out of the 14,000 jobs that were cut across departments; ceased funding to Sunfish Queensland, which is what this motion is all about; ceased the Fisheries observer program; ceased the industry development program for commercial and recreational fishing—

Honourable Members:

Honourable members interjecting—

Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

So, you are telling the people in Flynn that fishery inspectors do not have real jobs. You are saying to the people in Sunfish Queensland that they do not have real jobs. Well, I hope that is some comfort for them when they go home to their wife, or their husband or their kids and say, 'Mum or Dad doesn't have a job. But it wasn't a real job, so it doesn't matter now. We don't have to pay a real mortgage anymore maybe.' That is a ridiculous statement. I hope you withdraw.

Further cuts include: ceasing the Fishcare volunteer program; ceasing operational activity for waterway barrier works construction; cutting all funding to the national Fisheries Research and Development Corporation; scaling back the freshwater fishing program—which, as someone from St George, I am particularly upset about—to focus on the Stocked Impoundment Permit Scheme, freshwater stocking policy, native fish scientific expertise and pest and noxious fish; restructuring of the Queensland Boating and Fisheries Patrol to build capacity and expertise in priority regional locations—which I notice the member for Flynn actually touched on in his speech as being a bad thing. It is amazing to have those counterintuitive arguments in the one speech; not providing funding for the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation—a decision for this year only, with review in future years; the Marine Ecology Group, seagrass monitoring, transitioning across to James Cook University; and the rationalisation of Brisbane based senior management and support services.

The LNP has also cut front line fisheries researchers, as Minister McVeigh has confirmed in writing. So, it is not surprising to hear that the Liberal National Party has failed at the national level, given that the federal coalition failed to act in response to these state cuts. As I said, we did not hear a single voice raised in the parliament by the member for Herbert, the member for Dawson, the member for Flynn or the member for Calare. All hope is resting on the member for Wright about objecting to these cuts. I go back to the comment made by the member for Blair—these were not flagged before the election, they were not in campaign material that I saw in my mailbox. Campbell Newman's actions are just a sign of what would come if, heaven forbid, the member for Warringah became Prime Minister.

This is in stark contrast to the Gillard Labor government's strong commitment to deliver a national network of marine reserves to protect our precious marine environment for future generations. I was horrified when the very first thing that the Deputy Premier said after taking office was, 'We need to cut the size of the Great Barrier Reef.' Remember that? The very first thing that the Newman government said, 'We need to make the Great Barrier Reef area smaller.' The member for Flynn who has close connections to Gladstone should be ashamed of that. (Time expired)

Scott Buchholz (Wright, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

No-one enjoys the emotional task of having to sack someone. No-one likes to be sacked. It is an undertaking that I have had to do, from time to time, being an employer with over 105 permanent staff and contractors. But there is a reason it gets done, and hopefully through the course of this overview I will share those views with you, from a Queensland perspective.

I would like to speak a little bit about the overview of Sunfish and what the state government of Queensland is doing to support Sunfish. Sunfish puts itself forward as the peak recreational fishing organisation in Queensland.; However, a recent state-wide survey of recreational fishers in Queensland found that only three per cent of recreational fishers, of which there are 21,000 in Queensland, were actually affiliated with the recreational fishing body. Expenditures on recreational fishing services for the 2012-13 budget in Queensland will still be in excess of $10 million for the year. They will be broken down to include compliance, surveillance and enforcement including boat ramp signage and community service announcements in excess of $3.2 million. In addition to that: communication and education programs, including a free handbook for recreational fishers of half a million dollars; fish stocks and recovery programs, pest fish education and marine habitat protection of $2 million; research monitoring and reporting activities of $2.8 million; and scientific assessment and policy development of $2 million. Campbell Newman and the state LNP team are not walking away. Yes, there are reductions and there are reductions because the state is running out of money—and I will come to that.

In the process of these monies and jobs being wound back not one person in Queensland, who enjoys taking their kids, or going out and having a recreational fish, will lose the right to go and have a fish. We have just had to pare back some of the funding across all sectors of the community. The recreational fishing user fee contributes about $4.4 billion, and for everyone in Queensland who owns a boat, part of their registration goes towards this service. These revenues continue to be allocated for the ongoing management of recreation fishing with 75 per cent of SIPS's monies returning directly to the regional fishing stocking groups. This spending demonstrates the government's continued commitment to recreational fishing, and that is additional to the $10 million election commitment that will see this enhanced for the buybacks.

I mentioned earlier in my opening comments that I was going to allude to why some of these drastic measure are being undertaken. Recently, in Queensland we had a commission of audit report, which I will come to. There were three eminent persons who sat on that board. There was Professor Sandra Harding, Vice-Chancellor and President of James Cook University. She was educated at the Australian National University with 14 years of comprehensive experience. Mr Doug McTaggart brings strong leadership to the commission having held various senior positions in the private and public sectors. He is currently the Chairman for the Public Service Commission and a member of the Public Sector Renewal Board, a member of the COAG Reform Council, a councillor on the National Competition Council, and a director of Suncorp Ltd and UGL Ltd. These people are no dills when it comes to handling money. In addition to, that they had the honourable Peter Costello, who was the Treasurer for the Commonwealth for a record term. For more than a decade Peter Costello was a governor of the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank. He was also a member of the committee of the International Monetary Fund and has been chairman of the OECD Ministerial Council and APEC financial ministers. He was involved in the establishment of the G20 after the Asian financial crisis and was the global chairman of the G20 in 2006. So you are making the assumption that some of those guys actually know a little bit about fiscal management.

Bear with me and listen to their damning report on the previous Labor government's fiscal management of that state and why today a motivated LNP government and Campbell Newman are having to make these tough decisions. It is disturbing to report that in recent years the government of Queensland embarked on unsustainable levels of spending which have jeopardised the financial position of the state. Queensland has moved from a position of considerable financial strength just six years ago to, today, a position of weakness. Campbell Newman has a tough job ahead of him and I applaud him. If you want to help out Campbell, pop up and thank him for the work that he is doing in Queensland. (Time expired)

Debate adjourned.