Derek_Bullock
22-01-2006, 05:08 PM
Senator Nigel Scullion is tipped to be the new Federal Fisheries Minister. Below is a quote from his first speach in Parliament. Note that he is a conservationist
Not looking good for recreational fishing.
Derek
Darwin has to be the true cosmopolitan capital of the world. We have people from half the nations in the world represented in our population, and the other half wants to move there. It is the friendliest place in the world—the kind of place where you can leave the airport, jump in a cab, drive to one of our many watering holes and sit down and have a beer, and within an hour you will be sharing a table with a whole range of new mates. It is just that sort of place. So I had this vision of sitting on a vessel surrounded by perfect balmy weather and swaying palm trees, catching barramundi and getting paid for it. I thought: that seems to be a great way of life. A professional fisherman—that's the life for me, I thought. Well, the vision was soon shattered. As anyone who has made a living from the sea will attest, success is usually about very hard work, a few tears and a fair bit of luck.
There were pretty significant downsides to living off north-east Arnhem Land: the harshness of the environment, the unforgiving nature of the sea. Challenges ranged from the unpredictable—like being grovelled by a wounded buffalo when attempting to put some meat into an otherwise all-seafood diet—to the more predictable—like cyclones, and trying to resolve fights with your missus in the confines of a 40-foot vessel. I must say the downsides were substantially outweighed by the upsides: the unlimited pleasures of waking up each day in one of the most beautiful, pristine and remote areas of Australia. Imagine it, if you can: emerald-coloured rainforests that come down to a crystal clear, cobalt sea. It is just a glorious place to work and a glorious place to live.
As a conservationist and a fisherman, I have developed and maintained a keen interest in the use and control of our natural resources. I am the immediate past chairman of the Australian Seafood Industry Council, one of the largest conservation groups in Australia, the work of which I have no doubt is well known to the members of the chamber. I can remember—as perhaps many other people in the chamber will—that, as a young bloke, `environmentally friendly' meant putting the cigarette butt out in the beer can before you threw it out of the window. In the past, we had followed what we considered to be the world's `best practice'. We were encouraged to cut down those `ugly' native trees and we were encouraged to plant wheat and other European crops. We treated fisheries as if they were a danger to swimming. `Bigger vessels, more capacity!' cried the experts.
Australia now understands that the worst aspects of environmental degradation in this country, evidenced by dryland salinity, degraded rivers, depleted fish stocks and a net loss to our biodiversity, are the result of our own historical world's best practice. I have noticed with growing concern the call for primary producers to stop these practices overnight—`Fisherfolk, lay down your lines!'; `Irrigators, just give up your water quota!'; `Graziers, clear no more land!'— without consideration for compensation. If we ask the food producers of Australia to repair 50 years of our bad management and our bad advice without adjustment packages, and that means compensation, then we are asking for the job not to be done.
Not looking good for recreational fishing.
Derek
Darwin has to be the true cosmopolitan capital of the world. We have people from half the nations in the world represented in our population, and the other half wants to move there. It is the friendliest place in the world—the kind of place where you can leave the airport, jump in a cab, drive to one of our many watering holes and sit down and have a beer, and within an hour you will be sharing a table with a whole range of new mates. It is just that sort of place. So I had this vision of sitting on a vessel surrounded by perfect balmy weather and swaying palm trees, catching barramundi and getting paid for it. I thought: that seems to be a great way of life. A professional fisherman—that's the life for me, I thought. Well, the vision was soon shattered. As anyone who has made a living from the sea will attest, success is usually about very hard work, a few tears and a fair bit of luck.
There were pretty significant downsides to living off north-east Arnhem Land: the harshness of the environment, the unforgiving nature of the sea. Challenges ranged from the unpredictable—like being grovelled by a wounded buffalo when attempting to put some meat into an otherwise all-seafood diet—to the more predictable—like cyclones, and trying to resolve fights with your missus in the confines of a 40-foot vessel. I must say the downsides were substantially outweighed by the upsides: the unlimited pleasures of waking up each day in one of the most beautiful, pristine and remote areas of Australia. Imagine it, if you can: emerald-coloured rainforests that come down to a crystal clear, cobalt sea. It is just a glorious place to work and a glorious place to live.
As a conservationist and a fisherman, I have developed and maintained a keen interest in the use and control of our natural resources. I am the immediate past chairman of the Australian Seafood Industry Council, one of the largest conservation groups in Australia, the work of which I have no doubt is well known to the members of the chamber. I can remember—as perhaps many other people in the chamber will—that, as a young bloke, `environmentally friendly' meant putting the cigarette butt out in the beer can before you threw it out of the window. In the past, we had followed what we considered to be the world's `best practice'. We were encouraged to cut down those `ugly' native trees and we were encouraged to plant wheat and other European crops. We treated fisheries as if they were a danger to swimming. `Bigger vessels, more capacity!' cried the experts.
Australia now understands that the worst aspects of environmental degradation in this country, evidenced by dryland salinity, degraded rivers, depleted fish stocks and a net loss to our biodiversity, are the result of our own historical world's best practice. I have noticed with growing concern the call for primary producers to stop these practices overnight—`Fisherfolk, lay down your lines!'; `Irrigators, just give up your water quota!'; `Graziers, clear no more land!'— without consideration for compensation. If we ask the food producers of Australia to repair 50 years of our bad management and our bad advice without adjustment packages, and that means compensation, then we are asking for the job not to be done.