Joel Fitzgibbon (Hunter, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Agriculture) Share this | Hansard source

As the assistant minister indicated, the Fisheries Legislation Amendment (Representation) Bill 2017 is about giving recreational and Indigenous fishers a voice in Commonwealth decision making, and of course the opposition supports the proposition. We think it's a very important step in recognising both the value of recreational fishers and Indigenous fishers and their important contribution to the public debate wherever the Commonwealth has responsibility.

I'm very proud to represent an electorate which has more than its fair share of Australia's many recreational fishers. In fact, there are around five million of them, contributing more than $2 billion to the national economy. Of course, fishing is very much part of the Australian culture. It's as Australian as football and meat pies, I would suggest, and this is a group worthy of support.

And, as the minister has indicated, our Indigenous Australians have a very, very deep connection to both our waterways and our fishing resources. That needs to be recognised and respected. They too deserve some role in the decision-making process and of course have a great deal to offer in terms of advice to the Commonwealth on fishing matters. So we do support the legislation before the House.

I must say, though, that this has been in the making since prior to the 2013 election. Labor, in government, began the process of further engaging the rec fishers and Indigenous fishers sectors in Commonwealth decision making. I note that the coalition opposition at the time also promised to progress that engagement if elected at the 2013 election. It's fair to say that this has been an all-too-slow process.

I again reinforced Labor's commitment to the policy in an announcement on 18 June 2016—in other words, just prior to the last federal election. The coalition again met Labor's commitment, but here, again, we are almost at the end of 2017 and only now is legislation being put into effect to give fishers the voice they deserve. It's a little like the Forest Industry Advisory Committee and other stalled processes in forestry. Both fishers and forestry, of course, are portfolio areas of responsibilities which have been dropped from the title of the senior minister. We think that's regrettable, because we think that their role and contribution should be taken into account and fully and properly respected as such. So the opposition supports the bill, and we trust that the government will be very quick now to take all the necessary steps to ensure that the engagement is substantial and that the voice we expect to be given is given both to rec fishers and Indigenous fishers.

I'm very pleased to say that over recent years I've been an active member of the Parliamentary Friends of Recreational Fishers group. There's a regular breakfast here in Parliament House, as you probably know, Mr Deputy Speaker Irons. Sorry, I'm not a regular attender at the friends of fishers; I'm a regular attender of a breakfast held by the Australian Recreational Fishers Foundation, led by CEO Allan Hansard. At last year's event, in my own contribution to that event, I suggested that it was time that we have a parliamentary friends of fishers group in this place. It seems that we have one for just about every other interest in the parliament, and fishing is of interest to many members on both sides of the House. I'm pleased that that has now occurred, and particularly pleased that the member for Solomon has led the way there at my request. He has played a leading role in having the formation of that friendship group put in place. I know that the friendship group will keep a close check, and will look to the government to make sure that the hope given in terms of this legislation and the government's other commitment is fulfilled and that the rec fishers and Indigenous fishers get a proper voice in Commonwealth decision-making.

See this speech in context