Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

If ever there were a speech to challenge Labor to put the Greens last on their how-to-vote cards, that was it. If ever there were proof that this is government by social media, the supertrawler debate is it. This is true Labor, a party far removed from Ben Chifley's idealistic light on the hill. Now it is nothing more than a blight on the hill.

Banning the Abel Tasman is not about science. It will subject taxpayers to compensation claims. It will cost Australians jobs. This is more of what we saw last year with the live cattle fiasco. This is policy on the run and legislation by overreaction. It is a knee-jerk reaction to a campaign on Facebook and Twitter orchestrated by the Green lobby—by leftie lobbyists, including Greenpeace and GetUp!

Banning live cattle to Indonesia, one of our largest trading partners, followed the broadcasting of an ABC Television Four Corners program. Without so much as a thought about how her swift response would affect regional Australia, the Prime Minister stepped in and banned the export of live cattle to all Indonesian abattoirs, even the ones using Australian standard stunning killing. Just like that, she stopped it forthwith—no correspondence entered into.

The ramifications of that decision made in blind haste are still being felt today. Aboriginal stockmen are still out of work. The cattle industry has not fully recovered. The shutdown cost business in the Riverina dearly. Family owned and operated Byrne Trailers in Wagga Wagga manufactures specialised livestock transport equipment. When the cattle being shipped to Indonesia stopped, so too did the orders for trailers. It cost Byrne Trailers tens of thousands of dollars. Similarly, the supertrawler stand-off between the Dutch and Australia will also cost someone, if not everyone involved, a lot of money. But what does Labor care? Precious little, obviously.

The Netherlands has insisted the Gillard government explain its decision to bow to a pressure group campaign and, effectively, ban the vessel from fishing in our waters for two years. They now know how Indonesia felt last year. Dutch Deputy Prime Minister Maxime Verhagen telephoned the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Senator Joe Ludwig, on Tuesday, inquiring why Labor wanted to ban the boat. It seems the only boats Labor are able to stop are boats in Senator Ludwig's portfolio area—boats with our cattle on them or boats people want to use for fishing. This is in complete contrast to the people smuggler boats, which have brought 10,000 illegal immigrants to our northern shores already this year.

Labor's move to bully the Dutch smacks of rank hypocrisy. The Minister for Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities, in his previous role as fisheries minister, actually invited the Margiris, now the Abel Tasman, into Australia when he called in October 2009 for large-scale factory fishing vessels to come to Australia. A paper was signed by the minister encouraging large-scale factory fishing vessels to come to this country to fish in our waters. How can he then stand in this place and call for the complete opposite?

But it goes further than that. The wording of the bill and the amendments by the supposed Independent, the member for Dobell—no doubt cobbled together in the office of the Leader of the House to save some face for Labor—go much further than stopping the Abel Tasman.

They strike at the very heart of fishing generally.

The Australian Marine Alliance accused Labor of hastily drafting a bill which would give the minister for the environment and his department almost unfettered authority over all forms of fishing. This bill has nothing to do with the Abel Tasman, about which people have genuine concerns. Mind you, the take by that particular vessel will not be any greater than would otherwise have occurred. Not one fish more will be taken from the sea. I understand the concerns of those about what supertrawlers could do to fish stocks. The week before last I was at a place called Bay Bulls in Newfoundland, Canada, once wholly reliant on cod. On 2 July 1992, commercial cod fishing was banned and 19,000 people lost their jobs in the area. Of course we do not want our oceans depleted such that fish are pushed beyond the brink. On the other hand, we cannot allow the government to continue its war against fishing, to continue its war against cattle, to continue its war against agriculture.

The Abel Tasman was brought to Australia in a private joint venture after seven long years of negotiations—seven years of discussions, of investment, of planning, of organising staff. And for what? To be told 'Go away—while you were once invited, now the Labor government does not want you.' There is a better way. This bill needs to be opposed. The minister needs to explain why he has reversed the policy he introduced as fisheries minister nearly three years ago, which stated 'There are considerable economies of scale in the fishery and the most efficient way to fish may include large-scale factor freezer vessels,' and why he effectively invited the Abel Tasman into Australia by promoting large-scale factory freezer vessels, and what actions he will take to compensate the 50 Australian workers who will lose their jobs as a result of this legislation.

See this speech in context