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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2013-07-25 Daily Xml
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RECFISH SA

Mr PENGILLY (Finniss) (15:16): Thank you, sir. But will you be accompanying them?

The SPEAKER: No.

Mr PENGILLY: I have been somewhat amazed in the last couple of weeks at the response I have had from both the recreational and the professional fishing sectors over some comments I made in here a fortnight or so ago in relation to RecFish SA. To say the least, the fishing industry and most of the recreational fishing sector who have contacted me and spoken to me are absolutely appalled to find out that RecFish SA have been funded to the tune of $120,000 by the state government.

They are flabbergasted, they are annoyed and they are downright angry. They are saying it is no wonder that they are getting into bed, so to speak, with the government, coming out and doing articles in newspapers and supplements, and agreeing with the government on nearly everything, as far as I understand, to do with sanctuary zones, snapper closures and whatever it may be.

It is interesting that, once again, this issue of the fishing industry and sanctuary zones has arisen. It is not going to go away. There are a lot of people out there intensely angry over it and getting angrier and they are going to get progressively busy in the lead-up to 15 March next year, I have no doubt.

They see the payment of $120,000 to RecFish SA as nothing more than buying them off, which I think I mentioned in my last speech in parliament on this matter, and they are furious over it. They say to me that, at least with the former organisation (SARFAC) and Mr Trevor Watts, who used to be the sort of CEO of that, he may agree with the government one day and vehemently disagree with them the next, but at least they had some sort of a voice from the recreational fishing sector.

They are saying now that, with RecFish SA, they have absolutely no say. They believe that RecFish SA is dysfunctional, it is full of people who should not be there, and they are bitterly disillusioned with their activities. In addition to this, I have been approached by constituents from my electorate who are most concerned about the snapper closure that was announced recently. I have heard the minister speak on this and I understand that scientific evidence has been brought forward. Indeed, it has been discussed by members on this side of the house with coastal communities and snapper fishermen.

I guess what really incensed some of the fishermen was that recently a fair bit of airplay was given to some people from overseas—I think half a dozen competed for the best job in the world—and when the one who got the best job in the world here in South Australia was asked, 'When do Australians start holidays?', he said, 'On 1 December.' The snapper fishermen in my area were absolutely outraged. Of course, 1 December to 15 December is now an increase in the snapper closure, and out of respect to the people who have made these decisions, I am not going to make a lot of comment on that. However, it has infuriated the fishermen that they were not consulted on this in any way, shape or form. That is the information that I have.

Further, these letters that have gone out from PIRSA offering fishermen the opportunity to get out of the industry are seen as an absolute insult. There are some fishermen who may want to get out but, obviously, the state has no money. They do not know what they are going to get if they do agree to it. Further to that, the government has cunningly decided to stop the implementation of the sanctuary zones until October 2014. In the event there is a change of government, hopefully we will be able to do something about the stupidity orchestrated by the Department of Environment.

I again draw to the attention of the house the fact that RecFish SA has no credibility in the eyes of the wider fishing community. There are other websites set up and other groups are being set up, and they intend to take the fight right up to these people and they are probably going to wear the brunt of their anger.

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