Paul Scarr (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As we approach Christmas Day, when many Queenslanders will enjoy Australian seafood, I call upon all Australians to have some thought for the plight of our commercial fishers. There was an article in the Whitsunday Times this morning which talked about a meeting of commercial fishers in Mackay. The article is entitled 'Pleasure to nightmare: fishers fear for future generation'. I will read from the article to introduce my comments on this subject. The article said:

A Proserpine commercial fisherman has warned his grandson against following in his family's footsteps because of Queensland's new fishing regulations—

brought into action by the Palaszczuk-Trad government in Queensland. It continued:

Keith Brennan joined dozens of angry fishers at a meeting in Mackay on Tuesday, attended by Queensland LNP Shadow Fisheries Minister Tony Perrett and the LNP's Whitsunday candidate, Amanda Camm. Mr Brennan said the—

Palaszczuk—

State Government's fishing quotas could force him out of the industry.

"From the 14 years I've been in the industry, it went from a pleasure to a nightmare. I've been impacted that much that I could probably very well say tomorrow that I'm finished.

Mr Brennan's son has also managed to make a livelihood as a commercial fisherman, but he believes that won't be the case for his 18-year-old grandson.

He said:

We've advised him not to get into the fishing industry because what we can see now is it's definitely an industry that is going to crash.

In my maiden speech in the Senate I said that this country needs to make it easier, not harder, for those who are creating wealth and generating jobs in our society. I believe that no sector of our economy—no occupation, no profession—has been treated worse in my home state of Queensland than commercial fishers. The way that commercial fishers in Queensland have been treated is an absolute disgrace.

Let me quote from Shane Ward, who is the chairman of the Gulf of Carpentaria Commercial Fishermen Association. Mr Ward said: 'The new fishing reform process is going to be the biggest change the Queensland fishing industry has ever had. It will see multigenerational family fishing businesses winding up production and closing down. Queensland fishers won't be able to supply markets with enough product due to a lack of quota. These markets will be lost permanently.' I've spoken to commercial fishers in this situation. I spoke to one commercial fisher who was running a very successful business out of a little town called Mapoon, which is in the Gulf. He was the only private-sector employer of Indigenous people in that township. He employed people from two Indigenous families. He was producing tonnes of fresh seafood to be consumed in this country. His quota was cut from something like 10 tonnes to 380 kilograms. His business was destroyed. He walked away. He had to walk away from that business. He still pays the annual fees of approximately $4,000 a year, but he had to walk away from that business, and those Indigenous people lost their jobs because of it. It is an absolute outrage and it is imposing huge stress on our commercial fishers and their families.

A report called Sustainable fishing families was released in January 2019. It found that fishers who responded to the survey experienced significantly higher levels of high and very high psychological distress, greater than the Australian population as a whole. Why? The top sources of stress were related to uncertainty about future changes to government regulations, government regulations on access to fishing, and red tape. Our commercial fishers in Queensland deserve better than the treatment they are receiving from Anastasia Palaszczuk and Jackie Trad. So bear some consideration for our Queensland commercial fishers when you sit down and enjoy some Australian seafood on Christmas Day.