Commercial Fisheries Review

The Hon. N.J. CENTOFANTI (Leader of the Opposition) (14:31): I seek leave to provide a brief explanation before asking a question of the Minister for Primary Industries concerning the government's independent review into cost recovery of the seafood and aquaculture industries.

Leave granted.

The Hon. N.J. CENTOFANTI: On the PIRSA website it states, and I quote:

The Minister believes that this review is highly important and has the potential to reshape the funding model used within South Australian fisheries and aquaculture.

It has been at least four months since the finalisation of the report and the minister is still refusing to release the report, despite demands made by both the opposition and industry stakeholders. Just today, I received a refusal from her department, PIRSA, to release a copy of the report under the Freedom of Information Act. My questions to the minister are:

1. If the minister thinks that this review is so highly important and has such great potential then why has she not released the independent report to industry stakeholders?

2. What is in the report that the minister does not want to disclose to industry or the opposition?

3. Does the minister agree that by withholding the report she is acting unconscionably?

4. Will the minister admit that she and her government do not care about the fishing industry, have lost the confidence of that industry and are failing at their jobs?

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN (Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development, Minister for Forest Industries) (14:32): I thank the honourable member for her question. The Independent Cost Recovery Review Panel submitted its final report to PIRSA in mid-October. I have had an initial brief from the department and have, of course, read both reports and am currently considering their recommendations. I have asked my department for a full briefing that includes the implications of each of the recommendations, and that is now underway, according to my advice. Once that has been received, I will be able to discuss the next steps and I, of course, would expect that discussions with industry would form a significant part of that.