Steve Fielding (Victoria, Family First Party) Share this | Hansard source

Let me continue if I may. Family First has supported all the attempts by these fishermen to clear their names and has spoken out on their behalf to highlight the injustice of their situation. Family First raised the issue directly with the then Prime Minister, John Howard, last year and then with the current Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, this year. Family First raised it with the then Minister for Justice and Customs, Senator Johnston, and then with the Minister for Home Affairs, Bob Debus, this year. Earlier this year Family First also moved a couple of motions in support of the fishermen.

To deem these people as criminals is an outrageous act. These people have had a stain on their reputation, which has compromised their ability to have the freedoms that others have when they travel, and sometimes even to get a job, due to putting a fishing line in the wrong area. These are average blokes, average Australians. They are recreational fishermen. Granddad has taken the kids out to dangle a line and pass the time with the family or a group of mates in a tinny—many people can relate to that—and they have made a genuine mistake. As I alluded to before, the Howard government acknowledged that it had made a mistake in December 2006 and fixed the problem by downgrading the offence to an infringement with a $1,100 fine. But the issue here, the injustice that it is not a fair go, is that fishermen still carry the mark of their conviction. It has not been removed, and they still pay the price for the Howard government’s mismanagement of the issue.

Family First supports the amendment that will be coming up a bit later, which will see that the fishermen have their criminal convictions spent. We were originally going down the process of a pardon, but can fully understand that a spent conviction effectively does the same thing. So I can understand that that is perhaps a cleaner way of doing it. Moving the amendment here later on is certainly a good way of going forward if it has the support of the coalition. Basically, a spent conviction will remain invisible to all, and removing the stain from the lives of these fishermen will be a great relief to many. I also think that, when you can realise that a mistake has been made and you clean it up, it shows that this is a fair Australia. It is a pity it has taken so long. The fishermen have had this hanging over their heads for quite a while. I make it quite clear that I will be supporting the amendment which will come up later and which will see the convictions for these fishermen as being spent, and I support giving these fishermen back their lives.

With regard to the amendment being put forward here—industry representation—the problems and the hassles that we have had with these criminal convictions show that it would make sense to have more industry representation. Family First will be supporting that amendment as well.