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Thread: Horan sets record straight on Bay closures... with a little help from AFLP friends

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    Horan sets record straight on Bay closures... with a little help from AFLP friends

    Moreton Bay Marine Park (from Hansard today)
    Mr HORAN (Toowoomba South—NPA) (12.10 pm): I want to warn the people of south-east
    Queensland who love to fish and go boating on Moreton Bay about what the Labor government in
    Queensland will do to them. I want to warn them on the basis of what has happened to the people who like fishing in north Queensland.

    This Labor government has form. Just look at what it did with the complementary zones: there was absolutely no compensation paid whatsoever. What the government has done, through the EPA, is brought in five people from the Great Barrier Reef organisation who have been through this process of rezoning to review the Moreton Bay plan. In a nutshell, they rezoned 30 per cent of the Great Barrier Reef and in the same process put a stop to 70 per cent of the fishing. That is what will happen in Moreton Bay. They will come out with all these areas of interest—and they have some 35 areas of interest at the moment—they will cause a few major demonstrations about areas like the Redcliffe pier and other types of areas, and then they will slip in all the other zones while people are concentrating on other areas.

    At least in relation to the Barrier Reef in north Queensland compensation was paid by the federal government. But, in relation to the complementary zones along the coast, there was not one dollar of compensation. Who is going to compensate the people in Moreton Bay? Who is going to compensate the commercial fishermen whose families have been doing that for generations? Who will compensate the mums and dads who like to go fishing in Moreton Bay but who will now find that it is far too stressful because they cannot just go down and throw in a line; they will have to have GPS reference points or they could be prosecuted. Over 300 people in north Queensland have now been prosecuted and who have records. It will be beyond the average person who likes to go on the bay occasionally to enjoy their fishing and boating.

    Who is going to compensate the people of Brisbane and south-east Queensland who enjoy eating fresh fish from Moreton Bay? They will be like 60 per cent of the rest of us who have to eat the imported catfish from the polluted rivers of Asia. That is where we are heading if we do not have accurate, honest and fair dinkum consultation in this whole process.
    But how can it be fair dinkum when the Greens let the cat out of the bag before the last election?
    In their press release of 27 August they talked about the government’s plans for no-go zones. Then they disgracefully picked out the 13 seats that Labor considered marginal and they directly gave their preferences to Labor because that was the deal. That is why I am telling the people of south-east Queensland. That was the deal.

    Mrs SULLIVAN: I rise to a point of order. I find that offensive and I ask that it be withdrawn. Under no circumstances did the Greens give preferences to me in Pumicestone.
    Mr HORAN: Madam Deputy Speaker, I made no reference to that particular member.
    Mrs SULLIVAN: I find that offensive. There were no deals done in Pumicestone. I find it offensive and I ask that the member withdraw it.
    Madam DEPUTY SPEAKER (Ms van Litsenburg): Order! Would the member withdraw unreservedly?
    Mr HORAN: I withdraw. I also want to table a letter that was sent to the Minister for Environment and Multiculturalism from the Moreton Bay Game Fishing Association which clearly states the problems that they are having with regard to how they deal with this consultation process and the way their rights and knowledge have been trampled upon.

    Tabled paper: Copy of a letter, dated 14 August 2007, from Dr Evan Jones, Conservation Officer, Queensland Game Fishing Association Inc, to the Minister for Environment and Multiculturalism (Ms Lindy Nelson-Carr), relating to the Moreton Bay Marine Park review.

    I also want to ask: where is the Minister for Primary Industries and Fisheries, who is supposed to represent the people who fish in Moreton Bay, be they recreational or commercial fishermen? He has gone missing in action. I call on the minister to stand up and fight for the people who like to use Moreton Bay so they can have a fair, decent and honest review of Moreton Bay and not be trampled over by these prearranged deals that have been done with the extreme Greens. I call on the minister to guarantee that the Moreton Bay Access Alliance will be able to complete and show the details of its independent research which has been funded with a $226,000 grant. At the very least that is what the government should allow because that is independent research, not the desk research that was done by the environment department itself.

    I say to the people of south-east Queensland: be warned. This government has form. Those opposite have a prearranged plan for Moreton Bay. They are professionals; they know how to do it. They know how to rub out fishing and stop people from doing what they love to do. I say to the people of south-east Queensland: kick Labor in the shins at the federal election and kick them again in the shins at the state election. That is the only thing that an arrogant government understands: a great kick in the shins. Look what they did to the people of Queensland over council amalgamations. If you do not kick them in the shins, they will walk all over you. People might think they are getting consultation, but they are not and the accuracy, the honesty and the true science of the people who fish and boat in Moreton Bay will be disregarded.
    Time expired.

    Thanks to Mike for setting the record straight and helping to make the QLD Govt accountable! Also nice that AFLP is able to have the ear of certain members of Parliament who are willing to act on information provided - well done in both respects!!

    Adam
    Last edited by Adamy; 21-08-2007 at 04:32 PM. Reason: oops spelling


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