Kerry O'Brien (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Transport) Share this | Hansard source

The Fisheries Legislation Amendment (Foreign Fishing Offences) Bill 2006, which we are considering today, makes a number of amendments to the Fisheries Management Act 1991 and the Torres Strait Fisheries Act 1984. The amendments provide for increased fines and for custodial sentences of up to three years imprisonment for persons caught fishing illegally in those parts of Australia’s territorial sea that are subject to Commonwealth fisheries jurisdiction. The area covered by this legislation is the zone beyond a line three nautical miles from the coast, which represents the state or territory boundary and up to a line 12 nautical miles from the coast, which represents the rest of Australia’s territorial sea. Importantly, this legislation does not and cannot apply to the areas of the Australian fishing zone that lie out beyond the 12 nautical mile boundary of Australia’s territorial sea.

This legislation will therefore not apply to persons caught fishing illegally in the fishing zone between the 12 nautical mile line and the 200 nautical mile limit of our fishing zone. This is because, as a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, Australia is prohibited from imposing custodial penalties for foreign fishing offences beyond the 12 nautical mile territorial sea limit. This is not the first time that custodial sentences have been included in Australia’s fishing legislation, but in both the Fisheries Management Act and the Torres Strait Fisheries Act custodial sentences are generally provided only for non-fishing offences such as obstructing a fisheries officer or providing false information.

Labor will be supporting this legislation. We recognise that it is a very small step in the right direction. It will put in place a small additional deterrent for those foreign fishers who are considering fishing in our waters. Evidence was provided during estimates that the vast bulk of sightings by Coastwatch of illegal foreign fishers operating in Australia’s fishing zone are in waters beyond our 12 nautical mile territorial limit and will therefore not be subject to the new custodial provisions contained in this legislation.

The bill before us today is not likely to make a major dent in a problem that has basically been spiralling out of control for many years under a succession of Howard government fisheries ministers. We need to understand the dimensions of this problem. Last year, Coastwatch reported that in the 2004 calendar year there were 8,108 sightings of possible illegal fishing vessels in Australia’s fishing zone. Coastwatch now says that in the 2005 calendar year there were 13,018 sightings. Even if this figure has been inflated as a result of multiple sightings of the same vessel and of including vessels that have been legally transiting through our waters, it is clear that incursions by foreign fishing boats operating illegally in our waters are increasing at an alarming rate.

It is true that over time there has also been an increase in interceptions but, unfortunately, incursions have been increasing far more quickly than apprehensions. Even with the additional funding that was provided in this year’s budget, the government only expects to apprehend an additional 300 illegal foreign fishers a year. We need to put this in perspective. The number of sightings has been increasing by around 5,000 a year in recent years and the government has responded by providing funds to apprehend an additional 300 a year. No wonder this situation is spiralling out of control.

This is a situation that cannot be allowed to continue. It is not just the impact on our fish stocks and on the livelihoods of our fishing families and of fishing communities that we are concerned about. We are concerned also about the risks to our agricultural industries, and to our native flora and fauna, that these incursions pose. We have all seen reports of illegal foreign fishers bringing with them birds, dogs and other animals. We know that these animals are sometimes brought to camps on the Australian mainland. We know that many of these fishers themselves carry diseases such as tuberculosis and that their animals have the potential to carry bird flu, rabies and even foot-and-mouth disease.

But it is not only the quarantine risk that Australian fishers worry about. Australian fishers and officials are concerned that the illegal foreign fishers are becoming increasingly aggressive in the way they operate. Fishers have spoken about waking up at night out at sea and finding foreign fishers on their boat searching for food and water. There is concern about suspected links between some illegal fishers, drug importers and people smugglers.

There is also evidence that these fishers are becoming better organised. The minister himself has pointed to links between the foreign fishers and organised crime figures from Indonesia and elsewhere. Australian fishers and officials have reported that they are seeing more boats from the more distant areas in Indonesia as well as those from closer islands such as Roti who have been fishing in our waters for a very long time. As well, we are seeing bigger boats, ice boats and even mother ships and factory boats.

The changing nature of the problem can be seen in microcosm in the changing nature of the fishers that are being encountered in the so-called MOU box. When the sea boundary with Indonesia was originally negotiated, the MOU box, which lies within Australian waters, was set aside as an area where traditional fishers, principally from the island of Roti, could fish in the traditional way as they had for generations. These days it is not only traditional boats from Roti that are encountered in the MOU box. Today, powerful boats with relatively sophisticated fishing equipment are using the MOU box and, according to Australian fishers, fish stocks in that area have become severely depleted. This highlights the need for better cooperation between the Australian and the Indonesian governments, especially on issues such as who may fish in the MOU box area and other border related issues.

It is clear that illegal incursions in our waters by foreign fishers are out of control—out of the government’s control, certainly. The measures in this bill alone will do little to alter this alarming situation. This is a national problem demanding a coordinated national response. But the opposition is not convinced that we are getting a coordinated response—certainly not the one that is needed.

State and territory officers who are on the front line have reported that information sharing among the various authorities dealing with this problem is not always what it should be. They say there is a particular problem with some Commonwealth agencies who are very reluctant to share vital information. They say that coordination is not always as good as is desirable and the best, most efficient, use is not always made of existing, available equipment and human resources. Better coordination and cooperation between authorities is vital if we are to successfully overcome this problem.

I note that the minister has at last acknowledged the importance of this and that some funds for this purpose were made available in this year’s budget. But acknowledging the problem is not enough. This alone will not ensure better coordination and cooperation between Commonwealth agencies. Labor has long advocated bringing the federal agencies and equipment together in a well-equipped Australian coastguard as the best, most effective way of ensuring a well-resourced and well-coordinated response.

In addition there needs to be a renewed spirit of trust and cooperation between federal and state and territory authorities. On the ground at the local level in many places such cooperation between state and Commonwealth officers is the norm, and at the local level is where it should occur. The problem occurs much higher up the command chain. Ministers in particular have been far too fond of blame shifting and pointing the finger at one another.

We also need to utilise the local knowledge and long experience that lies in local communities, particularly Aboriginal communities, right across Northern Australia. Again, the government has finally come around to at least acknowledging that in many Aboriginal communities lies a wealth of experience that can be better used in surveillance and other activities associated with curbing illegal foreign fishing. But it is a very tentative start. It has become clear that to make the best use of Indigenous expertise a well-funded and well-coordinated program is needed. Aboriginal rangers should have training opportunities available to them that will equip them with skill sets roughly equivalent to those possessed by state or territory fisheries officers or national park service officers. They should also be provided with all the specialised equipment they need to do such a job. Better use should also be made of the resources and expertise of Australian fishers. Again, the government has made some noises in this area, but we have yet to see what, if anything, will happen in practice.

What is needed is a better focused effort from the Commonwealth. Labor believes this would best be done with an Australian coastguard. There needs to be better coordination across all levels of government and with the Indigenous community and Australian fishers. Much work also needs to be done with the Indonesians on issues such as the MOU box and the border and on finding viable alternatives for Indonesian fishers who have been operating in our waters. The legislation before us today has the support of the opposition, but no-one should pretend to believe that it will do more than scratch the surface in deterring illegal fishers from fishing in our waters.