Trish Crossin (NT, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise tonight to speak about an issue that is being strongly supported by the various seafood industry bodies around Australia, and that is the matter of clear labelling of country of origin for all our seafood, both fresh and processed. During this year’s federal election the National Seafood Industry Alliance issued its policy statement, and one of its key policy positions was the mandatory labelling of seafood to ensure that consumers are able to make informed choices about their seafood. Since 2006 it has been a legal requirement that unprocessed seafood sold to the Australian public must be clearly labelled with its country of origin. However, this requirement is only binding on retailers of fresh seafood. So, if you are selling fish for immediate consumption—for example, restaurants, clubs, bars or your local fish and chip shop—you are exempt from this labelling requirement. In this country, only when you buy fresh fish in any fish shop or at the market is that product clearly labelled as ‘Australian’ or ‘imported’. But when we go into your local pub for a counter meal of fish and chips or to a high-end seafood restaurant, you have no idea whether what you are ordering is Australian caught or imported. A restaurant may choose to disclose the origin of the seafood it is serving but it is certainly not required to do so—except, I am delighted to say, in the Northern Territory, another area it is a leader in. In November 2008 the Northern Territory government put in place licensing conditions under the Northern Territory Fisheries Act which require retailers serving imported seafood for public consumption to clearly identify if the product is in fact imported. This is the first such law in Australia. Why is such a law important?