Brian Burston (NSW, Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources, Senator Canavan. Your counterparts in the New South Wales government have begun the Commercial Fisheries Business Adjustment Program. This badly-designed program, administered by the coalition government and a National Party minister, will force fisherman to pay through the nose to maintain the catching rights that they currently have and will force many operators out of business. Can you advise what contact you have had with your New South Wales counterparts in regard to this issue and what efforts you have made to dissuade them from this path, which will be so destructive to our local fishing industry?

Matthew Canavan (Queensland, Liberal National Party, Minister for Resources and Northern Australia) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Burston for his question and for the advance notice of it. Obviously this is an issue that goes to state legislation, and it is a state matter. I have been informed, however, that the New South Wales parliament has just announced an inquiry into commercial fishing. That is due to report in February next year. As part of that inquiry, the Parliament of New South Wales will report on the business adjustment program, including on the relevance of a draft Productivity Commission report into marine fisheries and aquaculture. That Productivity Commission report, instituted by this government, recommended that New South Wales:

… move each of their fisheries to an individual transferable quota management system unless it is demonstrated that this is technically impractical or not cost effective. If individual transferable quotas are not used, fisheries should be managed using individual transferable effort systems.

That inquiry was established by this government, from terms of reference provided to the Productivity Commission. That inquiry and outcome came out of the consultations the government did in its agricultural white paper. We have a proud record of standing up for the commercial fishing sector, including through the measures in that white paper. Other measures we have taken in recent times include support to establish a commercial fishing body and funding to eradicate carp in our river systems. These are measures that we are taking to make sure that we support commercial fishing in this country. We have been longstanding supporters of the industry and we stand up, where necessary, for the rights of commercial fishing in this country, because it is such an important issue for our nation.

Stephen Parry (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Burston, a supplementary question.

Brian Burston (NSW, Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Structural Adjustment Review Committee overseeing this program has praised programs in other locations for sharply reducing the number of fishing endorsements available. Does your government share the New South Wales government's view that we have too many commercial fishermen and that some need to go?

Matthew Canavan (Queensland, Liberal National Party, Minister for Resources and Northern Australia) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I will not share your characterisation of the New South Wales government, Senator Burston—through you, Mr President. I do not believe it is an accurate interpretation of their view. From our perspective and in my view, we have a strong commercial fishing industry, which we support. Indeed, just last week, the National Party put on a barbecue for our commercial fishing industry, where we had people from all around the country and our sector. It is an annual event that we have run in this parliament since 1988. As long as this parliament has existed, we have run this barbecue at Christmas time. They say it is the event of the year, because it has beautiful fresh seafood from around our country and it attracts people from all political parties. I saw some of your colleagues there last week, Senator Burston. It is a very important sector for our country. People like Nick Schulz from up at Urangan Fisheries were there. He has been a long-term supporter of this program. Austral Fisheries has been a long-term supporter as well. All of these industries are very important. We support them, we back them and we want to see more of them.

Stephen Parry (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Burston, a final supplementary question.

Brian Burston (NSW, Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Already 87 per cent of the seafood eaten in New South Wales is imported. We live in the country with the longest coastline in the world. How small and how crippled does our domestic fishing industry have to become before the Liberal and National parties acknowledge that there is a problem?

Matthew Canavan (Queensland, Liberal National Party, Minister for Resources and Northern Australia) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As I was saying in my answer to the earlier questions, we are proud supporters of the commercial fishing sector. From where I am in Queensland, the Liberal National Party is a sole voice, a lone voice, campaigning against some of the ill-thought-through net-free fishing bans introduced by the Labor government up there. Unfortunately, other parties, such as Katter's Australian Party, deserted us on that fight, and we lost that fight thanks to that desertion.

We are proud supporters of the commercial fishing sector. We have provided $550,000 to establish the National Seafood Industry Alliance. It will be a representative industry body that can be the one voice for the sector in this country—a very important development. We have also done the same by providing grants to the Australian Recreational Fishing Foundation. They had an event here last week that I was at. We put $15 million into the National Carp Control Plan. These are the rabbits of our rivers. They need to go. We need to deal with them. It will improve our water quality and our environment, and it will improve opportunities for inland fishing as well. These are all positive steps we are taking to defend our commercial fishing sector.