David Johnston (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Fisheries, Forestry and Conservation. Will the minister update the Senate on the status of the fight against illegal fishing in Australia’s northern waters? How does the government intend to further address this problem, and is the minister aware of any alternative policies?

Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Fisheries, Forestry and Conservation) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Johnston for his question and note his longstanding interest in this issue. Last week I took my first official trip as minister for fisheries to Perth, Broome and Darwin, at the invitation of Barry Haase, David Tollner and coalition senators from Western Australia and the Northern Territory. The purpose of that visit was to discuss firsthand with stakeholders the scourge of illegal fishing. Make no mistake: we are dealing with a scourge which not only threatens the livelihoods of our Australian fishermen but also brings with it the threat of disease and worse being brought to Australia. What this trip did was reinforce for me that we as a government need to take a zero tolerance approach, just like we do with illegal drugs and road deaths. There will always be people who want to steal fish from our well-managed waters and, unless we aim to wipe out the scourge, we will surely fail.

I freely admit that after one month in the job I do not profess to have all the answers, but the Howard government will continue to ramp up our multi-agency, cross-portfolio and cross-government approach to address this problem. In this regard, last week I met with both the Western Australian and Northern Territory ministers and their opposition counterparts to discuss how we can work together. I can confirm to the Senate that just yesterday my colleague the outstanding Minister for Foreign Affairs, Alexander Downer, met with the Indonesian government to further discuss how our two governments can further work together to fight this scourge with joint patrols.

We also need to make it financially unviable and the risk of capture too high for the illegal fishers who want to ply our waters. As a result, in the short term the government is very focused on increasing the numbers of apprehensions in our northern waters, particularly of the so-called iceboats, which are increasingly acting as mother ships to the smaller bodhis. Over recent weeks, increased efforts from the Navy—and I congratulate Minister Nelson on this—have resulted in some half-dozen iceboats being apprehended and, as a result, a significant drop-off in iceboat incursions. But we do need to do more and I hope to report more to the Senate in due course.

I was asked about alternative policies. I think that there is in general terms cross-party support on this issue that something needs to be done. I suggest to those opposite that simply painting a red line on our Navy or Customs boats will not change anything at all, and just renaming something a ‘Coastguard’ will not provide the solutions. What we need is action, and immediate action—

Glenn Sterle (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

They need more money.

Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Fisheries, Forestry and Conservation) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Somebody across the road is interjecting that we need more resources—more money. Senator Sterle knows that because he heard it out of my mouth at Senate estimates. I am glad he has learnt something. I fully agree with him. I invite those opposite to come on board, to put party politics aside and to work together with the government. It is so easy to highlight the problem; the real difficulty is finding workable solutions. That is what I dedicate myself to; I invite those opposite to dedicate themselves to that task as well and together we can get rid of this scourge. (Time expired)