Rachel Siewert (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I wish to speak briefly on the Fisheries Legislation Amendment (Foreign Fishing Offences) Bill 2006 to explain why I was reluctant to let it go through as non-controversial legislation without making some comment. First, I would like to acknowledge the offer of the briefing and the briefing that we received from the minister’s office. It was very helpful in assisting us to understand some of the issues that I had about the legislation.

People in this chamber are probably well aware that the Greens have been concerned about illegal fishing and the depletion of our oceans for a very, very long time. We have no argument with the government’s rationale for taking action to prevent illegal fishing in Australian waters. As I have said, people are well aware that we have had concerns about this for a long time. The scale of quarantine risk and the depletion of fishing grounds are now recognised by everybody from Indigenous people fishing their traditional waters to state and territory fisheries officers, the Commonwealth fisheries agencies and commercial operators who are now confronting this issue on a daily basis. So on this basis I believe the need for action is noncontroversial.

There is evidence that the rapid increase in illegal fishing activity to our north is being driven by the collapse of fisheries in Indonesia brought on, at least in part, by the same industrial fishing fleets and illegal operators that are now pushing south towards Australia. But I do not believe that just throwing people in jail is the answer. I do understand that the government is taking other actions, and I will go into that area later. I am deeply interested in knowing what else the government is doing to deter the large-scale operators other than simply increasing the penalties for a large number of impoverished fishermen and fisher-people who are moving further and further south from their traditional fishing grounds.

The passage of this bill will certainly enable the government to say it is taking strong action against illegal fishing, but it does raise many questions. How many people does the government anticipate are likely to be charged under this new regime? Does the minister acknowledge that the number of people in detention could quickly become very large unless other elements of the government’s strategy prove to be successful and are implemented at the same time? Where, and for how long, will people be detained while their cases are pending? What will be the impact on the various state court and prison systems of the potentially large numbers of non-English speaking Indonesian villagers who will be moving through our judicial system?

As I have said, the Greens support sensible measures to protect the Australian marine environment and the industries that depend on it. I am aware that the government does have other actions that it is taking, although it seems to me at the moment that this legislation to throw people in jail seems to be dominating the headlines. I have mentioned elements of this plan before. The Australian Marine Conservation Society, for example, has published a very thorough and well thought out plan or concept of what needs to be put in place to deal with illegal fishing, such as to start with a better understanding of our seas and the impact of illegal fishing.

I would like to point here to the fact that we do not have a thorough understanding of that marine environment, our seas, and the impact illegal fishing is having. For example, during estimates I asked the Department of the Environment and Heritage’s Marine Division some questions about sharks. I asked if the department acknowledges that the true status of most shark populations in Australian waters is unknown, and the answer was yes. I asked if they acknowledge that the most basic biological information is missing for almost all species of shark, and the answer was yes. I asked the department if they acknowledged that the knowledge of habitat preferences and other ecological requirements is poor or unknown, and they answered yes.

Then I asked if they were aware that there is inadequate monitoring, enforcement and research programs specifically designed for sharks, and they said no. If they have already acknowledged that we have a poor understanding of their status, their biological information and their habitat preferences and other ecological requirements, I really do fail to see how they can then say that monitoring, enforcement and research programs specifically designed for sharks are adequate.

I also asked them if they believe that there is widespread concern about the apparent decline in shark numbers, and they answered yes. When I asked whether the National Plan of Action for the Conservation and Management of Sharks has been reviewed they said no. I am deeply concerned about those responses. I was very pleased that they were actually honest enough to admit that there were concerns about the knowledge of our shark populations, but I am deeply concerned that they could not answer that further action is being taken.

We have not yet fulfilled the first point of the Australian Marine Conservation Society’s 10-point plan—that first dot point. They also believe that we need to adopt a shared sea approach, which means working with our northern neighbours to protect our shared resources and seas. They also believe that we need to establish marine protected areas across the Arafura and Timor seas. I believe that an essential approach to managing our fisheries is to have a comprehensive, adequate and representative marine reserve system. We need to protect the species that are already threatened by fishing impacts.

Again, I come back to the information I have just supplied about sharks. We are not adequately protecting those sharks and we do not know enough about them yet. The AMCS also believe we need to improve the food security and livelihoods of coastal and Indigenous peoples. Again, there is much work that we could do in that area. We also need to recognise the rights of Indonesian coastal indigenous communities in the Arafura and Timor seas.

The AMCS also suggest, and this is an area they have talked about before, in point No. 6:

Breaking the illegal fishing trade cycle using international trade measures.

I believe that this is an area that is not being explored enough and that we need to take a much more lateral approach to using international trade measures. No. 8 in their suggested approach is ‘establishing a collaborative and comprehensive fisheries management framework’ for our northern waters, and I am aware that negotiations are going on between our governments on this very important issue. No. 9 is:

Implementing monitoring, compliance and surveillance operations.

Obviously, a large part of the work that the Australian government has been focusing on is surveillance operations, so we are starting to take care of that part. Point No. 10 recommends:

Building capacity of coastal and Indigenous communities to tackle illegal fishing.

I am pleased that money has been invested in helping our northern Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities to tackle illegal fishing and that their important role has been recognised. However, I do not believe that all of the elements of this plan are being implemented. It would be very encouraging to see the government take a much more comprehensive approach to this important issue. I am concerned that what does appear to come out in a lot of the rhetoric is that the government is taking the path of least resistance.

While I agree that penalties need to be put in place, it cannot be the only egg in the basket. As I said, a much more comprehensive approach needs to be taken. Just heavily pushing the ‘lock ‘em up’ approach is not going to solve the problem. Also, while I think that we may agree to disagree with the government, I do not believe that the threat of jail in Australia will necessarily act as a deterrent when fisherpeople are trying to earn some money to support their families and put food on their tables. Instead of what is a significant push for jailing fisherpeople, I very strongly believe that we need to be tackling the Mr Bigs of this industry.

This will come as a surprise to many in this place, and it may be the one and only time it ever happens, but like Senator Bartlett I am going to quote Wilson Tuckey. He may not really like being quoted by a Greens senator, but here we go.