jaybee
15-08-2004, 03:38 AM
Labor Press Release re RAP.
This afternoon the Senate witnessed an extraordinary outburst from the Minister for the Environment and Heritage Senator Ian Campbell, who, in response to Senator McLucas’ Return to Order spent more than twenty minutes lecturing the Senate on the spectacular success of the Representative Areas Program (RAP) but failed to table the requested documents.
It was a desperate attempt on the part of the Minister to shield the meddling Member for Dawson Mrs De-Anne Kelly, who is ironically on the public record calling for an independent inquiry into the RAP process due, in her words, to “a lack of transparency”.
“These documents have been the subject of FOI requests for several months now and yet my return to order was characterised by the Minister as ‘frivolous’ and a ‘cheap political stunt’,” Senator McLucas says. “His comments therefore endorse Mrs Kelly’s attempt to derail the public consultation process in support of sectional interests during the last days of the RAP consultation process.”
“Labor supports the RAP and the structural adjustment package. We did on the ground in Queensland and in the Parliament in Canberra. Our determination to protect the Reef has never been in doubt.”
Senator McLucas points out that it is now way past time for the Minister to come clean on whether Mrs Kelly intervened politically to change RAP zonings.
“Decisions made about the management of any natural resource have to be based on sound science,” Senator McLucas says. “Any political interference in this process undermines community trust in the outcome.”
With respect to Repulse Bay, concerns over the validity of the decision making process have been expressed by many organisations and individuals including Sunfish Mackay, the Whitsunday Shire Council, and the first draft zoning proposed had the unanimous endorsement of the Local Marine Advisory Committee which represents dive, tourism, environmentalists, commercial fishers, recreational fishers and aboriginal stakeholders as well as GBRMPA and QPWS service staff.
“Today’s Senate proceedings only increases Labor’s resolve to get to the truth about Mrs Kelly’s actions,” Senator McLucas says
Transcript of interview on ABC Tropical North
Programme: Breakfast Show
Date: 12th August, 2004
Time: 9.43 am
Compere: Anne O’Keeffe
Reporter: Ken Furdek
Interviewee: De-Anne Kelly, Federal Member for Dawson
Anne O’Keeffe: Yesterday Labor Senator for Queensland Jan McLucas introduced a return to order motion seeking the release of documents over the last minute change to rezoning at Repulse Bay. Sunfish Mackay is alleging that a third party is hindering their attempt to get hold of documents under freedom of information legislation. The Federal Govt didn’t produce any documents, so what is happening?
Ken Furdek caught up with the Member for Dawson De-Anne Kelly and asked her if she is the third party?
De-Anne Kelly: I’m not stopping the release of any documents. There is a process for freedom of information requests. It follows through a number of channels, as it were, and third parties can appeal but that really just means the appeal, as all appeals in court, to you know, shire councils, zonings and so on have a process they follow through. So I’m not holding anything up at all.
Ken Furdek: So, are you the third party or not, in regards to this dispute?
De-Anne Kelly: Well there are any number of third parties with this as you would be aware. There are hundreds of fishermen and so on and can I say there is a legitimate process through freedom of information and people are entitled to due process through it. So any third party would be entitled to follow the processes laid down under the freedom of information act.
Ken Furdek: Is there is anything there that you are concerned about under this FOI request?
De-Anne Kelly: No I don’t have any letters that I have written to GBRMPA under the FOI request that relate to the specific issue that they have raised which was Repulse Bay.
Ken Furdek: What was your involvement in Repulse Bay? Did you have any correspondence or any talks with GBRMPA in regards to that?
De-Anne Kelly: Not as far as I am aware. The whole of the east coast was an area of concern for somebody. I mean every representation that came to me was notes of meetings, personal letters written from land based businesses, letters from commercial fishermen. Letters, and I sent letters on behalf of the recreational fishing group in the Whitsundays, were all passed to the Minister. I don’t receive requests from my constituents that I put in the bottom of a draw. It is my job to make sure that those go forward and that is exactly what I did.
Ken Furdek: What is your reaction to all this De-Anne, because as you said you have been vocal in regards to the green zones, however Sunfish Mackay and the Whitsunday Shire Council are questioning your involvement in Repulse Bay, so what is your reaction to that?
De-Anne Kelly: Well I wish I had had the power to change the Representative Areas Programme, I didn’t. That is one of the reasons now that we are calling on the new Minister to look afresh at the whole process. We could never get the previous Minister Dr Kemp to do that.
But can I just say the final maps were tabled without any member of parliament seeing them. We had no opportunity to intervene as various groups are saying. There was no opportunity for Federal members to intervene at all and that is one of the things we are complaining about. We had no opportunity to get a better outcome to what has been a very devisive, very costly in terms of social and economic outcomes from this Representative Areas Programme.
Ken Furdek: So this return to order by Senator McLucas, your comfortable with, you have no problem with what she has done?
De-Anne Kelly: Look I don’t know, firstly can I say there’s simply nothing to hide because my representation is made on behalf of everyone in the electorate, commercial, recreational land based businesses are exactly what people would expect. They would expect me to take their concerns forward to the Minister which is what I did. But look I think that Senator McLucas though, is starting a precedent that would be unfortunate. Now people come to my office as they do to every Federal member’s office on a range of very sensitive issues. Child support, family law court, child abuse, taxation matters that are personal. I don’t think that anybody in my electorate would like a situation whereby they knew that any Senator could call on a Minister to reveal all their private correspondence. Can I say it is confidentiality is something that all constituents, in my electorate or anyone elses, rely upon and I am not prepared to allow private correspondence from any constituent on any matter. Can I just say that this is a cheap election tactic from Miss McLucas to try and create controversy where there is none.
Ken Furdek: This relates directly to Repulse Bay, not necessarily the RAP, did you have any involvement in changing the boundaries or changing I suppose what zoning the Repulse Bay was given?
De-Anne Kelly: I couldn’t and didn’t because we didn’t we see the final maps, we had no influence over the outcome. I mean that is the reason we are angry now because all of the representations that we made, all of the things that we tried to achieve, whether it was Bowling Green Bay, Cape Hillsborough, areas in the Whitsundays, Repulse Bay or anything else our recommendations were ignored. (Inaudible) as well as anything else that came through us that was put by the various fishing bodies, recreational or commercial, land based businesses were totally ignored. The consultation process was deeply flawed. That has been one of our major arguments.
Anne O’Keeffe: Federal Member for Dawson De-Anne Kelly speaking with Ken Furdek. My understanding is that the Federal Environment Minister Ian Campbell has said that it is going to take some time to get all the documents together. So it may be quite some time before the documents may be released.
Duration 6min 30 seconds
This afternoon the Senate witnessed an extraordinary outburst from the Minister for the Environment and Heritage Senator Ian Campbell, who, in response to Senator McLucas’ Return to Order spent more than twenty minutes lecturing the Senate on the spectacular success of the Representative Areas Program (RAP) but failed to table the requested documents.
It was a desperate attempt on the part of the Minister to shield the meddling Member for Dawson Mrs De-Anne Kelly, who is ironically on the public record calling for an independent inquiry into the RAP process due, in her words, to “a lack of transparency”.
“These documents have been the subject of FOI requests for several months now and yet my return to order was characterised by the Minister as ‘frivolous’ and a ‘cheap political stunt’,” Senator McLucas says. “His comments therefore endorse Mrs Kelly’s attempt to derail the public consultation process in support of sectional interests during the last days of the RAP consultation process.”
“Labor supports the RAP and the structural adjustment package. We did on the ground in Queensland and in the Parliament in Canberra. Our determination to protect the Reef has never been in doubt.”
Senator McLucas points out that it is now way past time for the Minister to come clean on whether Mrs Kelly intervened politically to change RAP zonings.
“Decisions made about the management of any natural resource have to be based on sound science,” Senator McLucas says. “Any political interference in this process undermines community trust in the outcome.”
With respect to Repulse Bay, concerns over the validity of the decision making process have been expressed by many organisations and individuals including Sunfish Mackay, the Whitsunday Shire Council, and the first draft zoning proposed had the unanimous endorsement of the Local Marine Advisory Committee which represents dive, tourism, environmentalists, commercial fishers, recreational fishers and aboriginal stakeholders as well as GBRMPA and QPWS service staff.
“Today’s Senate proceedings only increases Labor’s resolve to get to the truth about Mrs Kelly’s actions,” Senator McLucas says
Transcript of interview on ABC Tropical North
Programme: Breakfast Show
Date: 12th August, 2004
Time: 9.43 am
Compere: Anne O’Keeffe
Reporter: Ken Furdek
Interviewee: De-Anne Kelly, Federal Member for Dawson
Anne O’Keeffe: Yesterday Labor Senator for Queensland Jan McLucas introduced a return to order motion seeking the release of documents over the last minute change to rezoning at Repulse Bay. Sunfish Mackay is alleging that a third party is hindering their attempt to get hold of documents under freedom of information legislation. The Federal Govt didn’t produce any documents, so what is happening?
Ken Furdek caught up with the Member for Dawson De-Anne Kelly and asked her if she is the third party?
De-Anne Kelly: I’m not stopping the release of any documents. There is a process for freedom of information requests. It follows through a number of channels, as it were, and third parties can appeal but that really just means the appeal, as all appeals in court, to you know, shire councils, zonings and so on have a process they follow through. So I’m not holding anything up at all.
Ken Furdek: So, are you the third party or not, in regards to this dispute?
De-Anne Kelly: Well there are any number of third parties with this as you would be aware. There are hundreds of fishermen and so on and can I say there is a legitimate process through freedom of information and people are entitled to due process through it. So any third party would be entitled to follow the processes laid down under the freedom of information act.
Ken Furdek: Is there is anything there that you are concerned about under this FOI request?
De-Anne Kelly: No I don’t have any letters that I have written to GBRMPA under the FOI request that relate to the specific issue that they have raised which was Repulse Bay.
Ken Furdek: What was your involvement in Repulse Bay? Did you have any correspondence or any talks with GBRMPA in regards to that?
De-Anne Kelly: Not as far as I am aware. The whole of the east coast was an area of concern for somebody. I mean every representation that came to me was notes of meetings, personal letters written from land based businesses, letters from commercial fishermen. Letters, and I sent letters on behalf of the recreational fishing group in the Whitsundays, were all passed to the Minister. I don’t receive requests from my constituents that I put in the bottom of a draw. It is my job to make sure that those go forward and that is exactly what I did.
Ken Furdek: What is your reaction to all this De-Anne, because as you said you have been vocal in regards to the green zones, however Sunfish Mackay and the Whitsunday Shire Council are questioning your involvement in Repulse Bay, so what is your reaction to that?
De-Anne Kelly: Well I wish I had had the power to change the Representative Areas Programme, I didn’t. That is one of the reasons now that we are calling on the new Minister to look afresh at the whole process. We could never get the previous Minister Dr Kemp to do that.
But can I just say the final maps were tabled without any member of parliament seeing them. We had no opportunity to intervene as various groups are saying. There was no opportunity for Federal members to intervene at all and that is one of the things we are complaining about. We had no opportunity to get a better outcome to what has been a very devisive, very costly in terms of social and economic outcomes from this Representative Areas Programme.
Ken Furdek: So this return to order by Senator McLucas, your comfortable with, you have no problem with what she has done?
De-Anne Kelly: Look I don’t know, firstly can I say there’s simply nothing to hide because my representation is made on behalf of everyone in the electorate, commercial, recreational land based businesses are exactly what people would expect. They would expect me to take their concerns forward to the Minister which is what I did. But look I think that Senator McLucas though, is starting a precedent that would be unfortunate. Now people come to my office as they do to every Federal member’s office on a range of very sensitive issues. Child support, family law court, child abuse, taxation matters that are personal. I don’t think that anybody in my electorate would like a situation whereby they knew that any Senator could call on a Minister to reveal all their private correspondence. Can I say it is confidentiality is something that all constituents, in my electorate or anyone elses, rely upon and I am not prepared to allow private correspondence from any constituent on any matter. Can I just say that this is a cheap election tactic from Miss McLucas to try and create controversy where there is none.
Ken Furdek: This relates directly to Repulse Bay, not necessarily the RAP, did you have any involvement in changing the boundaries or changing I suppose what zoning the Repulse Bay was given?
De-Anne Kelly: I couldn’t and didn’t because we didn’t we see the final maps, we had no influence over the outcome. I mean that is the reason we are angry now because all of the representations that we made, all of the things that we tried to achieve, whether it was Bowling Green Bay, Cape Hillsborough, areas in the Whitsundays, Repulse Bay or anything else our recommendations were ignored. (Inaudible) as well as anything else that came through us that was put by the various fishing bodies, recreational or commercial, land based businesses were totally ignored. The consultation process was deeply flawed. That has been one of our major arguments.
Anne O’Keeffe: Federal Member for Dawson De-Anne Kelly speaking with Ken Furdek. My understanding is that the Federal Environment Minister Ian Campbell has said that it is going to take some time to get all the documents together. So it may be quite some time before the documents may be released.
Duration 6min 30 seconds