Peter Whish-Wilson (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I will take it as a compliment that the Attorney-General has tried to throw me off my game on what is a very important debate. And it is very important from my perspective and from the Greens' perspective, and not just because we want to support the fishing industry in this country. We do not do that solely because we want to support local jobs. We support the fishing industry in this country because, compared with overseas fishing, it is more sustainable. It is the best option we have. It is not perfect. Australian fisheries management is not perfect. Senator Siewert and I have had significant debates in this country about marine protected areas. We have had debates about supertrawlers. There are still many things we have to do. The Borthwick review, for example, which was achieved by the community, talked about how we can better integrate ecosystem science into fisheries management. There are lots of things we can do that are better. But at the end of the day, when you are on the committee and you go to the Sydney seafood markets and you go down on to the floor, it is explained to you that a consignment of fish has been brought in from Indonesia that in the end they refused to sell because all the bones in the fish were broken and they were convinced that that fish had come from a reef that had been dynamited. Now, I have been diving on dynamited reefs, in Lombok and other places. I have seen the damage these kinds of fishing operations do to ecosystems, and it really is heartbreaking.

We are very fortunate in this country, especially in Tasmania, where we do have beautiful oceans. But I can tell you, the ocean is broken in lots of places around the world because of unsustainable fishing activities. It is also broken because of pollution. It is broken because of climate change. And these seafood labelling recommendations that have come from a very good committee process—and I really enjoyed being part of that committee process—are a step in the right direction in ensuring that Australian consumers are empowered to make decisions that will lead to a healthier ocean. It is a good place to start, to have a country of origin labelling scheme that allows Australian consumers to say, 'This is an Australian product as opposed to an overseas product, and at least I know a little bit more about the fishery, and there are certification processes around that and I am comfortable supporting the local industry and paying a small premium.' Back in September we heard compelling evidence from the aptly named Robert Fish—