Ms LAWRIE - 2004-08-18
Fishing is, indeed, a lure of the Territory. The Territory barra fishery is world-renowned. Can you inform the House of any recent developments in our barra fishery?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Karama for her question. Indeed, fishing is very important for the Territory - that includes commercial and recreational fishing. Fishing provides jobs for many Territorians, not only in the commercial fishing fleet, but also the tour operators, fish farmers and, for many people in the Territory, it is a good recreational activity for locals and tourists alike. If you pick up any fishing magazine, either in Australia or internationally, you will find that they portray the Territory as a fishing destination.
That is why Rex Hunt comes here for holidays, and why Alex Julius has corporate executives coming every week to his lodge at Maningrida to go fishing, with very good results. Alex told me last Friday at the Palmerston Game Fishing Club, to which we gave a grant and we continue to support with the Barra Nationals, that he had an excellent season this year. That is very good to hear.
When we came to government, we said that we would consider commercial fishing and recreational fishing, and were prepared to close one river to commercial Barramundi fishing. We closed two. The first one, in 2002, was McArthur River and, second, on 1 July 2004, we closed the Adelaide River.
However, the Adelaide River closure took place with consultation with the community. Through the Aquatic Resource User Group we received advice when commercial and recreational fishermen got together in the same room and decided on and provided advice on how we should proceed with the closure of Adelaide River – something the previous government were indifferent to. We listened to that advice and closed the Adelaide River. We listened to the advice to offer an ex gratia payment to the fishermen who traditionally were fishing Adelaide River.
We are not standing still. I wrote to all the stakeholders and asked them to get together and start talking about a five-year plan with a 10-year outlook for the commercial barramundi fishing industry. This plan will provide a 10-year outlook for our barra fishery and certainty for commercial fishermen, because they have to make decisions, investments and have a long-term vision. At the same time, we provide encouragement to our recreational fishermen, because this government will consider the further purchase of commercial licences and the further closure of rivers for recreational fishermen. That is welcomed by the recreational fishermen and the tourists. You do not get 160 people from down south at the Barra Nationals if they do not believe they are going to come here and have a great time fishing the Daly River or other rivers in the Territory for barramundi.
Our approach was totally different from the previous government, and this can be confirmed by Senator Scullion. We all noted the comments he made when, just before the previous election, the government of the day was making policies on the run - closing McArthur River without telling anybody. The comments by Scullion when he was the representative of the commercial fishermen were scathing - absolutely scathing. Consultation - zilch. Mike Reed, the then member for Katherine, picked up the phone and told them they were closing McArthur River. That was the level of consultation. In our case, we sat down together, spoke to the stakeholders through the Aquatic Resource User Group, and reached a very good outcome.
We are now developing a 10-year plan for our barra fishery. Everybody can have a say. Everybody will understand the process. We will do the recreational allocation as necessary. We have a framework that will provide certainty for commercial fishermen and is very good news for recreational fishers.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Karama for her question. Indeed, fishing is very important for the Territory - that includes commercial and recreational fishing. Fishing provides jobs for many Territorians, not only in the commercial fishing fleet, but also the tour operators, fish farmers and, for many people in the Territory, it is a good recreational activity for locals and tourists alike. If you pick up any fishing magazine, either in Australia or internationally, you will find that they portray the Territory as a fishing destination.
That is why Rex Hunt comes here for holidays, and why Alex Julius has corporate executives coming every week to his lodge at Maningrida to go fishing, with very good results. Alex told me last Friday at the Palmerston Game Fishing Club, to which we gave a grant and we continue to support with the Barra Nationals, that he had an excellent season this year. That is very good to hear.
When we came to government, we said that we would consider commercial fishing and recreational fishing, and were prepared to close one river to commercial Barramundi fishing. We closed two. The first one, in 2002, was McArthur River and, second, on 1 July 2004, we closed the Adelaide River.
However, the Adelaide River closure took place with consultation with the community. Through the Aquatic Resource User Group we received advice when commercial and recreational fishermen got together in the same room and decided on and provided advice on how we should proceed with the closure of Adelaide River – something the previous government were indifferent to. We listened to that advice and closed the Adelaide River. We listened to the advice to offer an ex gratia payment to the fishermen who traditionally were fishing Adelaide River.
We are not standing still. I wrote to all the stakeholders and asked them to get together and start talking about a five-year plan with a 10-year outlook for the commercial barramundi fishing industry. This plan will provide a 10-year outlook for our barra fishery and certainty for commercial fishermen, because they have to make decisions, investments and have a long-term vision. At the same time, we provide encouragement to our recreational fishermen, because this government will consider the further purchase of commercial licences and the further closure of rivers for recreational fishermen. That is welcomed by the recreational fishermen and the tourists. You do not get 160 people from down south at the Barra Nationals if they do not believe they are going to come here and have a great time fishing the Daly River or other rivers in the Territory for barramundi.
Our approach was totally different from the previous government, and this can be confirmed by Senator Scullion. We all noted the comments he made when, just before the previous election, the government of the day was making policies on the run - closing McArthur River without telling anybody. The comments by Scullion when he was the representative of the commercial fishermen were scathing - absolutely scathing. Consultation - zilch. Mike Reed, the then member for Katherine, picked up the phone and told them they were closing McArthur River. That was the level of consultation. In our case, we sat down together, spoke to the stakeholders through the Aquatic Resource User Group, and reached a very good outcome.
We are now developing a 10-year plan for our barra fishery. Everybody can have a say. Everybody will understand the process. We will do the recreational allocation as necessary. We have a framework that will provide certainty for commercial fishermen and is very good news for recreational fishers.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016