jaybee
23-08-2003, 06:09 PM
By ANDY TOULSON 22aug03
TOWNSVILLE'S leading recreational fishing body Sunfish is planning legal action against the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority to force it to publicly reveal the amended draft "green zone" plan to the community before it becomes law.
But GBRMPA said yesterday it had followed due legislative process.
However, GBRMPA director of Conservation Biodiversity and World Heritage Jon Day said that based on the sheer number and detailed content of the 21,000 submissions, further consultation may well be required with key stakeholders in considering the views of all in revising the draft zoning plan.
The revised zoning plan is due to be presented to Federal Environment and Heritage Minister Dr David Kemp and then tabled in the Federal Parliament by the end of the year.
Areas of concern within the Representative Area Plan by tourism, boating, commercial and recreational fishing bodies include the controversial zoning of more than one-third of the marine park as no-fishing zones as well as their locations in popular recreational fishing areas along the Townsville coastline.
Sunfish chairman Brian Pickup said the group had so far held back on filing full legal action against GBRMPA, pending the reef authority responding to their concerns.
Mr Pickup said the group had held a meeting with its legal advisers on Wednesday night to cement the changes they want made in the processing legislation.
"We need to see the amended draft plan before it becomes law," he said bluntly yesterday.
"We have had no opportunity of even seeing their final draft plan, no way of checking if GBRMPA got it right or not before it goes before Parliament.
"This reveals a major flaw in the submission processing system.
"It is dependent on whether we get a response from GBRMPA, and what that response is, whether we go ahead and challenge them legally in the High Court."
Mr Pickup said the group was also very concerned over the validity of the green zones, located on the RAP in prime recreational areas for billfish and inshore fishing.
"We are worried that the final draft will maintain the proposed green zones around the mid-shore reefs north of Magnetic Island and inshore areas around Hinchinbrook Island and Cape Bowling Green," he said.
"The impact of closing those areas will place a huge pressure on the resource -- fish -- which will lead to even stricter bag limits being imposed on top of what we already have.
"GBRMPA needs to seriously rethink its strategies and we need to be able to see what that final decision is before it gets taken out of our hands forever."
But Mr Day said that while considering Sunfish's concerns, the team of 18 officers was still analysing the more than 21,300 public submissions received.
Mr Day said 10,000 submissions had been analysed so far, with the task expected to be completed in about four weeks.
"The draft plan will undoubtedly change in the light of the submissions and ongoing consultation, however no single group should assume that their views alone will be able to be totally reflected in the final zoning plan," Mr Day said.
Editorial Comment
No secrets
WITH 21,000 submissions for the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority to wade through, no single person or organisation can expect to monopolise the final draft zoning plan for the marine park to be tabled in Federal Parliament by the end of the year.
However Sunfish has a point in seeking to have the final plan made public before becoming law. Obviously a firm decision has to be made at some point, but with such intense interest in the new zoning proposal, what is to be finally presented to Parliament should not be kept secret until it is virtually a fait accompli.
TOWNSVILLE'S leading recreational fishing body Sunfish is planning legal action against the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority to force it to publicly reveal the amended draft "green zone" plan to the community before it becomes law.
But GBRMPA said yesterday it had followed due legislative process.
However, GBRMPA director of Conservation Biodiversity and World Heritage Jon Day said that based on the sheer number and detailed content of the 21,000 submissions, further consultation may well be required with key stakeholders in considering the views of all in revising the draft zoning plan.
The revised zoning plan is due to be presented to Federal Environment and Heritage Minister Dr David Kemp and then tabled in the Federal Parliament by the end of the year.
Areas of concern within the Representative Area Plan by tourism, boating, commercial and recreational fishing bodies include the controversial zoning of more than one-third of the marine park as no-fishing zones as well as their locations in popular recreational fishing areas along the Townsville coastline.
Sunfish chairman Brian Pickup said the group had so far held back on filing full legal action against GBRMPA, pending the reef authority responding to their concerns.
Mr Pickup said the group had held a meeting with its legal advisers on Wednesday night to cement the changes they want made in the processing legislation.
"We need to see the amended draft plan before it becomes law," he said bluntly yesterday.
"We have had no opportunity of even seeing their final draft plan, no way of checking if GBRMPA got it right or not before it goes before Parliament.
"This reveals a major flaw in the submission processing system.
"It is dependent on whether we get a response from GBRMPA, and what that response is, whether we go ahead and challenge them legally in the High Court."
Mr Pickup said the group was also very concerned over the validity of the green zones, located on the RAP in prime recreational areas for billfish and inshore fishing.
"We are worried that the final draft will maintain the proposed green zones around the mid-shore reefs north of Magnetic Island and inshore areas around Hinchinbrook Island and Cape Bowling Green," he said.
"The impact of closing those areas will place a huge pressure on the resource -- fish -- which will lead to even stricter bag limits being imposed on top of what we already have.
"GBRMPA needs to seriously rethink its strategies and we need to be able to see what that final decision is before it gets taken out of our hands forever."
But Mr Day said that while considering Sunfish's concerns, the team of 18 officers was still analysing the more than 21,300 public submissions received.
Mr Day said 10,000 submissions had been analysed so far, with the task expected to be completed in about four weeks.
"The draft plan will undoubtedly change in the light of the submissions and ongoing consultation, however no single group should assume that their views alone will be able to be totally reflected in the final zoning plan," Mr Day said.
Editorial Comment
No secrets
WITH 21,000 submissions for the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority to wade through, no single person or organisation can expect to monopolise the final draft zoning plan for the marine park to be tabled in Federal Parliament by the end of the year.
However Sunfish has a point in seeking to have the final plan made public before becoming law. Obviously a firm decision has to be made at some point, but with such intense interest in the new zoning proposal, what is to be finally presented to Parliament should not be kept secret until it is virtually a fait accompli.