Glenn Sterle (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak briefly about the Fisheries Legislation Amendment (Cooperative Fisheries Arrangements and Other Matters) Bill 2005 [2006]. This bill contains amendments to the fisheries acts to clarify the meaning of the existing economic efficiency objective. The wording of the existing economic efficiency objective will be changed from ‘maximising economic efficiency in the exploitation of fisheries resources’ to ‘maximising the net economic returns to the Australian community from the management of Australian fisheries’. In the second reading speech the minister made the claim:

The new wording restates the existing objective in more simple terms that are easier for people to understand.

The minister went on to say:

Beyond clarifying this issue, the Government does not expect the amendments to the fisheries management objectives to have any impact on how the Commonwealth fisheries are managed.

Never let it be said that the Howard government shirks the big issues of the day. At a time when the fisheries off Australia’s northern and western coasts are being plundered mercilessly by illegal fishers, what do we see? We see the Howard government leaping to action by using this parliament to restate existing objectives which will, by the government’s own admission, have no impact on how fisheries are managed. The new minister must be very proud of this decisive action. But that is not all this bill does. In addition to restating the economic efficiency objective in more simple terms, the bill also amends the fisheries acts to insert principles of ecologically sustainable development, consistent with those in the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. This fulfils a commitment made in outcome 3 of the 2003 Commonwealth fisheries policy review. Better late than never.

The explanatory memorandum tells us:

To achieve this goal, the bill also contains administrative amendments to improve the operation and efficiency of the Offshore Constitutional Settlement (OCS) fisheries arrangements and facilitate cooperative fisheries management between State, Northern Territory (NT) and Australian Governments.

The spirit of cooperation that is embodied in these words written by departmental and parliamentary draftspeople is commendable but sadly lacking in the actions of the Howard government and its ministers. Honourable senators will no doubt be aware that the offshore constitutional settlement is the jurisdictional arrangement between the Commonwealth, the states and the Northern Territory which sets out responsibilities for offshore fisheries, mining, shipping and navigation, and crimes at sea. It is that agreement which provides for state or Northern Territory laws to apply inside three nautical miles and for Commonwealth laws to apply from three to 200 nautical miles off our shores. It is that agreement which makes clear the culpability of the Howard government when illegal fishing vessels chug unchallenged through the 197 nautical miles of Commonwealth responsibility to plunder the three nautical miles of state and territorial waters off our coast, where, if they are then apprehended, they become a drain on the legal aid coffers and prison systems of the Western Australian and Northern Territory governments.

It is all well and good that the Howard government is implementing these legislative changes, but they must be understood in the broader context of state and Commonwealth government relations over Australia’s fisheries and the issue of illegal fishing. What is the point of clarifying legislative objectives when Australian fisheries are being plundered? What is the point of adapting OCS fisheries arrangements to provide for cooperative agreements between state, Northern Territory and Commonwealth governments when the Commonwealth government is ignoring the simple and productive requests made by the Western Australian and Northern Territory governments to protect Australia’s fisheries from being fished to extinction by illegal fishermen?

Recently we have seen the Western Australian fisheries minister, Jon Ford, direct the Western Australian Department of Fisheries to reallocate resources and officers to make available the eight-metre patrol vessel FD10 to enable the Bardi community to conduct marine patrols off the reef platforms of King Sound and Brue Reef. This has been necessary because, despite the repeated requests by the Western Australian government for the Howard government to do its job, wave upon wave of illegal fishermen are chugging unchallenged through the 197 nautical miles of Commonwealth responsibility to plunder the Bardi people’s licensed trochus fishery.

Even though this probably made him feel better, the Prime Minister’s act of giving the back of the axe to Senator Ian Macdonald did not and will not stop the boats from coming. That responsibility now falls with the new Minister for Fisheries, Forestry and Conservation, Senator Abetz. To be fair, it is too early to tell whether Senator Abetz will make a more constructive contribution than his predecessor, but the early indications are not good. ‘I’ll hit poachers’ read the headline on page 13 of the West Australian on Monday, 6 February 2006. The article stated:

Illegal fishing will top the list of priorities for Senator Abetz, who is also responsible for forestry and the conservation portfolios ...

The minister was then quoted as saying:

I don’t want to dwell on the past ... I can promise a new approach to this issue.

Two days later, Senator Abetz was asked his first dorothy dixer in his new role as Minister for Fisheries, Forestry and Conservation by Senator Parry. Senator Parry asked the minister to outline to the Senate how the Howard government is successfully balancing the key concerns of conservation and jobs in the areas of fisheries and forestry and, as we have come to expect from the ever imaginative Howard government, whether he was aware of any alternative policies.

And what an auspicious start the new minister made. In his answer, the minister covered a range of topics, including the Securing Our Fishing Future package; the 2004 Tasmanian Community Forest Agreement; the minister’s views of the Australian Greens’ forestry policies, Tasmanian Premier Lennon’s visit to Recherche Bay, the Australian Labor Party’s policy platform, Mr Ferguson, Mr Albanese and Mr Latham; speculation of a Green-Labor accord in Tasmanian state politics; and the Tasmanian state election—but he said not one word about the issue of illegal fishing. So much for topping the list of priorities. So much for not wanting to dwell on the past. So much for a new approach. It seems Senator Abetz would prefer to act the clown in question time and ramble on about Mr Mark Latham and about his imaginings about Tasmanian state politics than address the real problem of the plague of illegal fishermen plundering Australian waters unchecked. The minister clearly needs to lift his game.

Before I conclude my remarks, I would like to share with the minister a fact he should find disturbing. In January of this year alone, 76 Indonesian fishermen have been jailed for fishing illegally in WA waters, which extend three nautical miles off the Western Australian coast. Each and every one of them chugged unchecked through 197 nautical miles of Commonwealth responsibility. The minister would do well to ask himself what he would like the figure to be by the time of the next ministerial reshuffle, lest he find himself in the berley box and in the same boat as his two immediate predecessors.