Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Fisheries, Forestry and Conservation) Share this | Hansard source

And Senator Lightfoot. They would all be pleased to know that there have been just two sightings off Western Australia. Let me be clear: there are positive signs that the Howard government will not take its foot off the pedal. We will continue our no-nonsense approach to drive these numbers even lower. Nonetheless, the facts are clear: our policies are working. In fact, even the state Labor governments agree. Late last year they described the results of our policies as ‘very encouraging’. It seems that only federal Labor and Mr Bevis persist in the denial of the facts, carping from the sidelines when clearly they have no idea of the reality on the water. But here their actions speak louder than words. For example, at the recent estimates, Labor’s fisheries spokesman, Senator O’Brien, did not ask a single question about illegal fishing—not one. And since I have been minister, there has not been one question in this chamber from those opposite about the issue of illegal fishing. So it is time that Labor acknowledged the success of our approach and stopped carping— (Time expired)