Marine Scalefish Fishery

The Hon. C. BONAROS (14:55): I refer to the minister's statement regarding the marine scale fishery decision that she read out just some time ago and seek an understanding of whether the minister—

The PRESIDENT: The Hon. Ms Bonaros, are you seeking leave to make—

The Hon. C. BONAROS: I am not seeking leave; I am not making an explanation, Mr President. I am asking questions.

The PRESIDENT: Well, you had better ask the question.

The Hon. C. BONAROS: Yes, I am.

1. Has the minister consulted with the relevant sectors of the fishing industry regarding the impacts of her decision on those sectors? If so, what was their advice, specifically in relation to the advice by SARDI regarding the total allowable commercial catches and the resulting redistribution of wealth this outcome will create?

2. How many licence holders will the government's decision impact, and is the impact limited only to those licence holders who applied for exceptional circumstances or will it also extend to those who may have had similar circumstances but chose not to apply for assessment on the basis that their circumstances were not exceptional?

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN (Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development, Minister for Forest Industries) (14:57): I thank the honourable member for her question. I think it is important to point out that this is a decision—a ruling, if you like—from SACAT. The ruling from SACAT was that the policy that had been implemented by the former Minister for Primary Industries had no legal foundation. I repeat that for members' consideration: it had no legal foundation.

This was a policy, created presumably by the former Minister for Primary Industries, that had no legal foundation, that was considered by SACAT to be unjust and unfair and to effectively enshrine—I am paraphrasing the words of SACAT—disadvantage from fishers who had exceptional circumstances. SACAT found that the former primary industries minister enforced this policy which produced unfair and unjust results for a group of the state's commercial fishers. I quote that it:

…singled out those fishers unfairly disadvantaged by the general allocation process and effectively sought to enshrine that disadvantage…

SACAT also reflected that there is no evidence that the minister's policy has been exposed to parliamentary scrutiny.

The Hon. N.J. CENTOFANTI: Point of order, Mr President: we have already heard the minister's statement. Can she please answer the member's question?

The PRESIDENT: I am sure, minister, you are getting close to providing an answer.

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN: Thank you, Mr President. I will point out that I am not reading from the statement. I am reading from some other notes, quoting SACAT. As I mentioned, there is no evidence that the minister's policy has been exposed to parliamentary scrutiny.

These are findings of the SACAT. It is incumbent upon me to now address the mess that has been created by the former Liberal government, the mess that has been created by the former Minister for Primary Industries and the mess that has resulted in a number of licence holders finding that their businesses will be unviable because of this enshrining of disadvantage. In terms of the specific impacts on individual fishers, I am looking forward to being able to provide that information to those affected in the very near future.