Mr TOYNE - 1998-10-08
The minister crowed about how Operation ‘Flying Fish’ would cheaply and efficiently save 5000 barramundi which were starving in the Mary River wetlands.
The minister told Territorians his expensive farce only cost $10 000. Will the minister now be honest and tell Territorians what the real cost was? Will he tell Territorians how much he spent to fly the media over to record his farce? When will the minister stop these silly stunts and get fair dinkum about doing something that will fix the problem for good?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, what is the minister going to do to fix the problem? The problem in the Mary River wetlands is immense and it is not easily fixed - the problems of saltwater intrusion and the competing interests of fishermen, fish, pastoralists. We have in place the Mary River catchment management plan which was a result of wide consultation with the community. Hydrogeology and hydrodynamics is not a particularly precise science and in terms of Carmor Creek a barrage was built to prevent further saltwater intrusion which has already destroyed thousands of hectares of melaleuca freshwater swamp. Unfortunately, that particular barrage, as it transpired, was probably built a bit too high and did not allow the passage of fish sufficiently late in the season.
The division of fisheries identified an emerging problem with that particular waterway. It was highly stocked with barramundi. There was a likelihood with the onset of the early rains and with the usual flush of vegetation into those systems that you would get a deoxygenation of the water and subsequently the fish would die. It is a natural phenomena that occurs throughout the Northern Territory. Unfortunately it can be exacerbated by the existence of such barrages.
There is an answer. It is about the same cost as the Aswan High Dam. It is a hugely expensive and complicated engineering problem. We are conducting ongoing research in that area. Both fisheries, lands, planning and environment and other agencies continually monitor the area. We are confident that we are winning the battle against salt water intrusion.
Mr TOYNE: Point of order, Madam Speaker! The question was quite specific about the cost of the fishing farce exercise.
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, would you keep on with your answer.
Mr PALMER: Well I do not accept the question. Because it is based on false premise the fishing is a farce exercise. I do not accept there was a farce.
Ms Martin: There was. It was at least $10 a fish.
Mr PALMER: The cost, I am told, was about $10 000. Officers were despatched to the Mary River system, as they are quite often, to tag barramundi, which they did. As a result of that exercise I think they tagged and released about 5000 fish.
Mr Bailey: If they wanted something to block the river they should drop you in there.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr Bailey: That would be the most useful thing you have done for a long time.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Member for Wanguri.
Mr PALMER: I will donate the $10. They can have him. He would be a great advocate of Leeds United, and that is about as well as he behaves.
As I said, it was a useful scientific exercise in its own right. Unfortunately, they didn’t get as many fish as they hoped they would. But we can’t be accused of not trying.
The minister told Territorians his expensive farce only cost $10 000. Will the minister now be honest and tell Territorians what the real cost was? Will he tell Territorians how much he spent to fly the media over to record his farce? When will the minister stop these silly stunts and get fair dinkum about doing something that will fix the problem for good?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, what is the minister going to do to fix the problem? The problem in the Mary River wetlands is immense and it is not easily fixed - the problems of saltwater intrusion and the competing interests of fishermen, fish, pastoralists. We have in place the Mary River catchment management plan which was a result of wide consultation with the community. Hydrogeology and hydrodynamics is not a particularly precise science and in terms of Carmor Creek a barrage was built to prevent further saltwater intrusion which has already destroyed thousands of hectares of melaleuca freshwater swamp. Unfortunately, that particular barrage, as it transpired, was probably built a bit too high and did not allow the passage of fish sufficiently late in the season.
The division of fisheries identified an emerging problem with that particular waterway. It was highly stocked with barramundi. There was a likelihood with the onset of the early rains and with the usual flush of vegetation into those systems that you would get a deoxygenation of the water and subsequently the fish would die. It is a natural phenomena that occurs throughout the Northern Territory. Unfortunately it can be exacerbated by the existence of such barrages.
There is an answer. It is about the same cost as the Aswan High Dam. It is a hugely expensive and complicated engineering problem. We are conducting ongoing research in that area. Both fisheries, lands, planning and environment and other agencies continually monitor the area. We are confident that we are winning the battle against salt water intrusion.
Mr TOYNE: Point of order, Madam Speaker! The question was quite specific about the cost of the fishing farce exercise.
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, would you keep on with your answer.
Mr PALMER: Well I do not accept the question. Because it is based on false premise the fishing is a farce exercise. I do not accept there was a farce.
Ms Martin: There was. It was at least $10 a fish.
Mr PALMER: The cost, I am told, was about $10 000. Officers were despatched to the Mary River system, as they are quite often, to tag barramundi, which they did. As a result of that exercise I think they tagged and released about 5000 fish.
Mr Bailey: If they wanted something to block the river they should drop you in there.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr Bailey: That would be the most useful thing you have done for a long time.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Member for Wanguri.
Mr PALMER: I will donate the $10. They can have him. He would be a great advocate of Leeds United, and that is about as well as he behaves.
As I said, it was a useful scientific exercise in its own right. Unfortunately, they didn’t get as many fish as they hoped they would. But we can’t be accused of not trying.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016