❓ Mr Rundle questions the Minister for Environment regarding consultation on the proposed South Coast Marine Park, alleging insufficient engagement with local communities and undue influence from external entities. The Minister defends the consultation process as exceeding statutory requirements and accuses Mr Rundle of fearmongering.
AnsweredQoN 671Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
SOUTH COAST MARINE PARK — CONSULTATION
671. Mr P.J. RUNDLE to the Minister for Environment:
I refer to comments from the Western
Australian Fishing Industry Council that the state government's
handling of plans for the proposed south coast marine park are 100 times worse
than the Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act process, and I note the minister's
answer in the Legislative Council yesterday that he will receive submissions
from entities outside of WA.
(1) Is the minister now taking submissions, funding
and direction from entities such as Pew Charitable Trusts?
(2) Will he
admit that he has not properly consulted with the local community and industry
and, indeed, even the department of fisheries?
671. Mr P.J. RUNDLE to the Minister for Environment:
I refer to comments from the Western
Australian Fishing Industry Council that the state government's
handling of plans for the proposed south coast marine park are 100 times worse
than the Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act process, and I note the minister's
answer in the Legislative Council yesterday that he will receive submissions
from entities outside of WA.
(1) Is the minister now taking submissions, funding
and direction from entities such as Pew Charitable Trusts?
(2) Will he
admit that he has not properly consulted with the local community and industry
and, indeed, even the department of fisheries?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(2) The
member for Roe said to me a couple of weeks ago outside this place that he was
going to ask this question. I have been
waiting. Unfortunately, he did not impress me with that lot of malarky, quite
frankly.
Several members
interjected.
Mr R.R. WHITBY : What an old
bunch of malarky he came up with just then. Seriously! There has been more
consultation on this proposed marine park than is statutorily required of
government. We are going over and above and
will continue to do so. Is it 100 times worse? Why did he not say ''one
gazillion''? Seriously! He is taking his cues from, I think, one
person in the community, not the bulk of people, who are reasonable and who
want the government to take action with a marine park. What the member for Roe
as the local member does not do in this place is advocate for the incredible
environment in his own backyard. He ignores it all the time. He tries to
promote anxiety and fearmongering in the community, which does him no service
whatsoever.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Order, please.
Mr R.R. WHITBY : I am more
than happy to go through the exhaustive process.
Another
thing I will say is that we are not at a conclusion here. We are in the middle
of a process. It is interesting that there is so much commentary coming from
the member when he should be saying to the community, ''Let's
engage in consultation'',
because that is the process we have gone through and that is the process we
will continue to go through.
We
established the community reference committee, which engaged recreational
fishers; commercial fishers; diving , tourism
and local environment representatives; and other key groups in the community.
We met more than six times over 18 months. In addition, 10 different
sectoral advisory groups, or SAGs, comprising businesses, not-for-profits,
independent experts and scientists all had input into the process. The
Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions also separately
consulted 31 individuals involved in commercial fishing and seven involved in
recreational fishing. We went to every licensed commercial fisher and offered a
face-to-face meeting. They were held in places like Albany, Hopetoun, Esperance
and Perth.
Ms M.J. Davies interjected.
Mr R.R. WHITBY : Member, they
were often one-on-one meetings. When that was accepted, those meetings were
held. I do not know what more we could do, but we are doing more—much
more.
Several members interjected.
Mr R.R. WHITBY : This is important!
Do you want to hear the answer or not?
The SPEAKER : Order, please,
members! Minister, I might just interrupt. When I first came into Parliament,
we did not have supplementary questions; we
had a lot of interjections. The concept of the supplementary question was to give someone the opportunity to ask a supplementary
question and perhaps not continuously interject. If I am going to get
continuous interjections from more than one person in the opposition, I will
then have to reconsider whether to offer a supplementary question.
Mr R.R. WHITBY : Thank you,
Speaker.
The
truth is that there are strong views on both sides. I will concede that. There
are strong views from some, not all, of the commercial fishers, and
there are very strong views from environmentalists in the conservation movement. It is the government's job to
work through this to get the right balance and a sensible outcome. The value of the marine environment on the south coast is extraordinary. There are
species there that do not exist anywhere else on the planet. Less than one per
cent of state waters are devoted to their preservation and protection. That is
not good enough.
The Western Australian community is
demanding that we protect these areas. It is my job to work with the Minister for Fisheries to ensure that we strike a sensible
and reasonable balance that will allow commercial fishers, recreational fishers, the community, conservationists and traditional owners to all be
satisfied with an outcome. Not everyone will get 100 per cent of what they are
after. My job is to land in the sensible centre, which is what this government always tries to achieve, and create an outcome
that makes sense, protects the environment and allows for commercial and
recreational opportunities into the future.
member for Roe said to me a couple of weeks ago outside this place that he was
going to ask this question. I have been
waiting. Unfortunately, he did not impress me with that lot of malarky, quite
frankly.
Several members
interjected.
Mr R.R. WHITBY : What an old
bunch of malarky he came up with just then. Seriously! There has been more
consultation on this proposed marine park than is statutorily required of
government. We are going over and above and
will continue to do so. Is it 100 times worse? Why did he not say ''one
gazillion''? Seriously! He is taking his cues from, I think, one
person in the community, not the bulk of people, who are reasonable and who
want the government to take action with a marine park. What the member for Roe
as the local member does not do in this place is advocate for the incredible
environment in his own backyard. He ignores it all the time. He tries to
promote anxiety and fearmongering in the community, which does him no service
whatsoever.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Order, please.
Mr R.R. WHITBY : I am more
than happy to go through the exhaustive process.
Another
thing I will say is that we are not at a conclusion here. We are in the middle
of a process. It is interesting that there is so much commentary coming from
the member when he should be saying to the community, ''Let's
engage in consultation'',
because that is the process we have gone through and that is the process we
will continue to go through.
We
established the community reference committee, which engaged recreational
fishers; commercial fishers; diving , tourism
and local environment representatives; and other key groups in the community.
We met more than six times over 18 months. In addition, 10 different
sectoral advisory groups, or SAGs, comprising businesses, not-for-profits,
independent experts and scientists all had input into the process. The
Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions also separately
consulted 31 individuals involved in commercial fishing and seven involved in
recreational fishing. We went to every licensed commercial fisher and offered a
face-to-face meeting. They were held in places like Albany, Hopetoun, Esperance
and Perth.
Ms M.J. Davies interjected.
Mr R.R. WHITBY : Member, they
were often one-on-one meetings. When that was accepted, those meetings were
held. I do not know what more we could do, but we are doing more—much
more.
Several members interjected.
Mr R.R. WHITBY : This is important!
Do you want to hear the answer or not?
The SPEAKER : Order, please,
members! Minister, I might just interrupt. When I first came into Parliament,
we did not have supplementary questions; we
had a lot of interjections. The concept of the supplementary question was to give someone the opportunity to ask a supplementary
question and perhaps not continuously interject. If I am going to get
continuous interjections from more than one person in the opposition, I will
then have to reconsider whether to offer a supplementary question.
Mr R.R. WHITBY : Thank you,
Speaker.
The
truth is that there are strong views on both sides. I will concede that. There
are strong views from some, not all, of the commercial fishers, and
there are very strong views from environmentalists in the conservation movement. It is the government's job to
work through this to get the right balance and a sensible outcome. The value of the marine environment on the south coast is extraordinary. There are
species there that do not exist anywhere else on the planet. Less than one per
cent of state waters are devoted to their preservation and protection. That is
not good enough.
The Western Australian community is
demanding that we protect these areas. It is my job to work with the Minister for Fisheries to ensure that we strike a sensible
and reasonable balance that will allow commercial fishers, recreational fishers, the community, conservationists and traditional owners to all be
satisfied with an outcome. Not everyone will get 100 per cent of what they are
after. My job is to land in the sensible centre, which is what this government always tries to achieve, and create an outcome
that makes sense, protects the environment and allows for commercial and
recreational opportunities into the future.
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