Ian Macdonald (Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Northern Australia) Share this | Hansard source

I seek leave to amend motion number No. 303 on the grounds that part of what we were calling for has actually been delivered by the minister this morning.

Leave granted.

I move the motion as amended:

That the Senate—

(a)

notes that:

(i)

a federally-funded independent review into the sustainability of shark and other protected species in the East Coast Inshore Fin Fish Fishery, which includes Queensland’s Moreton Bay, was released on 27 November 2008,

(ii)

the future of fishers in the Moreton Bay area could very much depend on the outcome of this federally-funded review, and

(iii)

the Queensland Government is closing tenders for the Structural Adjustment Package for Moreton Bay fishers on 28 November 2008, the timing of which will prevent fishers from making fully informed decisions, taking into account the outcome of the federally-funded review; and

(b)

calls on the Queensland Government to extend the closing date for tenders for the Structural Adjustment Package to 1 February 2009 to give fishers the opportunity of considering the independent federally-funded review to determine whether or not they should be exiting the fishery and making application for the Structural Adjustment Package.