❓ The Minister for Fisheries reports on the apprehension of illegal fishing boats by state Fisheries officers and criticises the federal government's decision to relocate funding for coastal surveillance from WA to Darwin, raising concerns about security risks and the impact on the fishing and tourism industries.
AnsweredQoN 504Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
Can the minister inform the house of the recent success of the state’s Fisheries officers in combating illegal foreign fishing incursions? Mr J.J.M. BOWLER
AnswerView source ↗
I may not have too many fish in my home town, but the member for Kimberley certainly does in hers. I thank the member for the question. Members in the chamber may be aware that since last Wednesday the state patrol vessel Walcott has apprehended three illegal fishing boats. Nineteen people have been taken into custody; 10 - including the three skippers - have been charged and will be facing the court in Broome next week. I join with the Minister for Fisheries in congratulating our state Fisheries officers for the excellent work they have done in trying to keep these people at bay. Members would have seen the photographs in The West Australian this week showing the many occasions on which such people take just a fin or a very small part of the fish, and that is something we should be fighting against. Members may also be aware that the state Fisheries officers, who are doing such a good job, are really doing a job that the commonwealth should be doing. For 25 years, across both Liberal and Labor governments, the federal government has funded eight officers to be based in Western Australia - six in Perth and two in Broome - to look after the Western Australian coastline. Suddenly, in these times of heightened security risk and of increased illegal fishing off our coast, we are told that the $1.2 million a year that it takes to fund this service will be taken away from Western Australia and put into Darwin. Some people may say that Darwin can look after the north west coast of Western Australia, but that is akin to a service being taken out of, say, Rome or Athens and moved around the coastline to Oslo so they can look after it, because they are the sorts of distances we are talking about. Would the Italians and the Greeks like that? No, they certainly would not. That is why Western Australians should be very upset with what the federal government is doing with our fishing industry in this case. I was alarmed when I found out that Coastwatch aircraft have sighted 42 illegal fishing vessels off our coast since the end of 2004. Currently, it is sighting between and two and three vessels daily, but we have apprehended two only, other than what the state Fisheries people have done. That is how many we are apprehending. A hoard of illegal fishing vessels is virtually coming down from Indonesia. The big worry that I have and that I know the Minister for Fisheries has is not only the problem of our fishing people conflicting with people coming down from Indonesia, but also the effect of these people from Indonesia on the growing tourism charter industry on the north west coast. There is some beautiful coastline up there and the fear is that it is only a matter of time before there is physical conflict between these invaders and the tourism operators. I urge members opposite to get their federal colleagues to restore the $1.2 million service that has been doing a good job and should continue.
Mr J.J.M. BOWLER replied: I may not have too many fish in my home town, but the member for Kimberley certainly does in hers. I thank the member for the question. Members in the chamber may be aware that since last Wednesday the state patrol vessel Walcott has apprehended three illegal fishing boats. Nineteen people have been taken into custody; 10 - including the three skippers - have been charged and will be facing the court in Broome next week. I join with the Minister for Fisheries in congratulating our state Fisheries officers for the excellent work they have done in trying to keep these people at bay. Members would have seen the photographs in The West Australian this week showing the many occasions on which such people take just a fin or a very small part of the fish, and that is something we should be fighting against. Members may also be aware that the state Fisheries officers, who are doing such a good job, are really doing a job that the commonwealth should be doing. For 25 years, across both Liberal and Labor governments, the federal government has funded eight officers to be based in Western Australia - six in Perth and two in Broome - to look after the Western Australian coastline. Suddenly, in these times of heightened security risk and of increased illegal fishing off our coast, we are told that the $1.2 million a year that it takes to fund this service will be taken away from Western Australia and put into Darwin. Some people may say that Darwin can look after the north west coast of Western Australia, but that is akin to a service being taken out of, say, Rome or Athens and moved around the coastline to Oslo so they can look after it, because they are the sorts of distances we are talking about. Would the Italians and the Greeks like that? No, they certainly would not. That is why Western Australians should be very upset with what the federal government is doing with our fishing industry in this case. I was alarmed when I found out that Coastwatch aircraft have sighted 42 illegal fishing vessels off our coast since the end of 2004. Currently, it is sighting between and two and three vessels daily, but we have apprehended two only, other than what the state Fisheries people have done. That is how many we are apprehending. A hoard of illegal fishing vessels is virtually coming down from Indonesia. The big worry that I have and that I know the Minister for Fisheries has is not only the problem of our fishing people conflicting with people coming down from Indonesia, but also the effect of these people from Indonesia on the growing tourism charter industry on the north west coast. There is some beautiful coastline up there and the fear is that it is only a matter of time before there is physical conflict between these invaders and the tourism operators. I urge members opposite to get their federal colleagues to restore the $1.2 million service that has been doing a good job and should continue.
I may not have too many fish in my home town, but the member for Kimberley certainly does in hers. I thank the member for the question. Members in the chamber may be aware that since last Wednesday the state patrol vessel Walcott has apprehended three illegal fishing boats. Nineteen people have been taken into custody; 10 - including the three skippers - have been charged and will be facing the court in Broome next week. I join with the Minister for Fisheries in congratulating our state Fisheries officers for the excellent work they have done in trying to keep these people at bay. Members would have seen the photographs in The West Australian this week showing the many occasions on which such people take just a fin or a very small part of the fish, and that is something we should be fighting against. Members may also be aware that the state Fisheries officers, who are doing such a good job, are really doing a job that the commonwealth should be doing. For 25 years, across both Liberal and Labor governments, the federal government has funded eight officers to be based in Western Australia - six in Perth and two in Broome - to look after the Western Australian coastline. Suddenly, in these times of heightened security risk and of increased illegal fishing off our coast, we are told that the $1.2 million a year that it takes to fund this service will be taken away from Western Australia and put into Darwin. Some people may say that Darwin can look after the north west coast of Western Australia, but that is akin to a service being taken out of, say, Rome or Athens and moved around the coastline to Oslo so they can look after it, because they are the sorts of distances we are talking about. Would the Italians and the Greeks like that? No, they certainly would not. That is why Western Australians should be very upset with what the federal government is doing with our fishing industry in this case. I was alarmed when I found out that Coastwatch aircraft have sighted 42 illegal fishing vessels off our coast since the end of 2004. Currently, it is sighting between and two and three vessels daily, but we have apprehended two only, other than what the state Fisheries people have done. That is how many we are apprehending. A hoard of illegal fishing vessels is virtually coming down from Indonesia. The big worry that I have and that I know the Minister for Fisheries has is not only the problem of our fishing people conflicting with people coming down from Indonesia, but also the effect of these people from Indonesia on the growing tourism charter industry on the north west coast. There is some beautiful coastline up there and the fear is that it is only a matter of time before there is physical conflict between these invaders and the tourism operators. I urge members opposite to get their federal colleagues to restore the $1.2 million service that has been doing a good job and should continue.
Members in the chamber may be aware that since last Wednesday the state patrol vessel Walcott has apprehended three illegal fishing boats. Nineteen people have been taken into custody; 10 - including the three skippers - have been charged and will be facing the court in Broome next week. I join with the Minister for Fisheries in congratulating our state Fisheries officers for the excellent work they have done in trying to keep these people at bay. Members would have seen the photographs in The West Australian this week showing the many occasions on which such people take just a fin or a very small part of the fish, and that is something we should be fighting against. Members may also be aware that the state Fisheries officers, who are doing such a good job, are really doing a job that the commonwealth should be doing. For 25 years, across both Liberal and Labor governments, the federal government has funded eight officers to be based in Western Australia - six in Perth and two in Broome - to look after the Western Australian coastline. Suddenly, in these times of heightened security risk and of increased illegal fishing off our coast, we are told that the $1.2 million a year that it takes to fund this service will be taken away from Western Australia and put into Darwin. Some people may say that Darwin can look after the north west coast of Western Australia, but that is akin to a service being taken out of, say, Rome or Athens and moved around the coastline to Oslo so they can look after it, because they are the sorts of distances we are talking about. Would the Italians and the Greeks like that? No, they certainly would not. That is why Western Australians should be very upset with what the federal government is doing with our fishing industry in this case. I was alarmed when I found out that Coastwatch aircraft have sighted 42 illegal fishing vessels off our coast since the end of 2004. Currently, it is sighting between and two and three vessels daily, but we have apprehended two only, other than what the state Fisheries people have done. That is how many we are apprehending. A hoard of illegal fishing vessels is virtually coming down from Indonesia. The big worry that I have and that I know the Minister for Fisheries has is not only the problem of our fishing people conflicting with people coming down from Indonesia, but also the effect of these people from Indonesia on the growing tourism charter industry on the north west coast. There is some beautiful coastline up there and the fear is that it is only a matter of time before there is physical conflict between these invaders and the tourism operators. I urge members opposite to get their federal colleagues to restore the $1.2 million service that has been doing a good job and should continue.
Mr J.J.M. BOWLER replied: I may not have too many fish in my home town, but the member for Kimberley certainly does in hers. I thank the member for the question. Members in the chamber may be aware that since last Wednesday the state patrol vessel Walcott has apprehended three illegal fishing boats. Nineteen people have been taken into custody; 10 - including the three skippers - have been charged and will be facing the court in Broome next week. I join with the Minister for Fisheries in congratulating our state Fisheries officers for the excellent work they have done in trying to keep these people at bay. Members would have seen the photographs in The West Australian this week showing the many occasions on which such people take just a fin or a very small part of the fish, and that is something we should be fighting against. Members may also be aware that the state Fisheries officers, who are doing such a good job, are really doing a job that the commonwealth should be doing. For 25 years, across both Liberal and Labor governments, the federal government has funded eight officers to be based in Western Australia - six in Perth and two in Broome - to look after the Western Australian coastline. Suddenly, in these times of heightened security risk and of increased illegal fishing off our coast, we are told that the $1.2 million a year that it takes to fund this service will be taken away from Western Australia and put into Darwin. Some people may say that Darwin can look after the north west coast of Western Australia, but that is akin to a service being taken out of, say, Rome or Athens and moved around the coastline to Oslo so they can look after it, because they are the sorts of distances we are talking about. Would the Italians and the Greeks like that? No, they certainly would not. That is why Western Australians should be very upset with what the federal government is doing with our fishing industry in this case. I was alarmed when I found out that Coastwatch aircraft have sighted 42 illegal fishing vessels off our coast since the end of 2004. Currently, it is sighting between and two and three vessels daily, but we have apprehended two only, other than what the state Fisheries people have done. That is how many we are apprehending. A hoard of illegal fishing vessels is virtually coming down from Indonesia. The big worry that I have and that I know the Minister for Fisheries has is not only the problem of our fishing people conflicting with people coming down from Indonesia, but also the effect of these people from Indonesia on the growing tourism charter industry on the north west coast. There is some beautiful coastline up there and the fear is that it is only a matter of time before there is physical conflict between these invaders and the tourism operators. I urge members opposite to get their federal colleagues to restore the $1.2 million service that has been doing a good job and should continue.
I may not have too many fish in my home town, but the member for Kimberley certainly does in hers. I thank the member for the question. Members in the chamber may be aware that since last Wednesday the state patrol vessel Walcott has apprehended three illegal fishing boats. Nineteen people have been taken into custody; 10 - including the three skippers - have been charged and will be facing the court in Broome next week. I join with the Minister for Fisheries in congratulating our state Fisheries officers for the excellent work they have done in trying to keep these people at bay. Members would have seen the photographs in The West Australian this week showing the many occasions on which such people take just a fin or a very small part of the fish, and that is something we should be fighting against. Members may also be aware that the state Fisheries officers, who are doing such a good job, are really doing a job that the commonwealth should be doing. For 25 years, across both Liberal and Labor governments, the federal government has funded eight officers to be based in Western Australia - six in Perth and two in Broome - to look after the Western Australian coastline. Suddenly, in these times of heightened security risk and of increased illegal fishing off our coast, we are told that the $1.2 million a year that it takes to fund this service will be taken away from Western Australia and put into Darwin. Some people may say that Darwin can look after the north west coast of Western Australia, but that is akin to a service being taken out of, say, Rome or Athens and moved around the coastline to Oslo so they can look after it, because they are the sorts of distances we are talking about. Would the Italians and the Greeks like that? No, they certainly would not. That is why Western Australians should be very upset with what the federal government is doing with our fishing industry in this case. I was alarmed when I found out that Coastwatch aircraft have sighted 42 illegal fishing vessels off our coast since the end of 2004. Currently, it is sighting between and two and three vessels daily, but we have apprehended two only, other than what the state Fisheries people have done. That is how many we are apprehending. A hoard of illegal fishing vessels is virtually coming down from Indonesia. The big worry that I have and that I know the Minister for Fisheries has is not only the problem of our fishing people conflicting with people coming down from Indonesia, but also the effect of these people from Indonesia on the growing tourism charter industry on the north west coast. There is some beautiful coastline up there and the fear is that it is only a matter of time before there is physical conflict between these invaders and the tourism operators. I urge members opposite to get their federal colleagues to restore the $1.2 million service that has been doing a good job and should continue.
Members in the chamber may be aware that since last Wednesday the state patrol vessel Walcott has apprehended three illegal fishing boats. Nineteen people have been taken into custody; 10 - including the three skippers - have been charged and will be facing the court in Broome next week. I join with the Minister for Fisheries in congratulating our state Fisheries officers for the excellent work they have done in trying to keep these people at bay. Members would have seen the photographs in The West Australian this week showing the many occasions on which such people take just a fin or a very small part of the fish, and that is something we should be fighting against. Members may also be aware that the state Fisheries officers, who are doing such a good job, are really doing a job that the commonwealth should be doing. For 25 years, across both Liberal and Labor governments, the federal government has funded eight officers to be based in Western Australia - six in Perth and two in Broome - to look after the Western Australian coastline. Suddenly, in these times of heightened security risk and of increased illegal fishing off our coast, we are told that the $1.2 million a year that it takes to fund this service will be taken away from Western Australia and put into Darwin. Some people may say that Darwin can look after the north west coast of Western Australia, but that is akin to a service being taken out of, say, Rome or Athens and moved around the coastline to Oslo so they can look after it, because they are the sorts of distances we are talking about. Would the Italians and the Greeks like that? No, they certainly would not. That is why Western Australians should be very upset with what the federal government is doing with our fishing industry in this case. I was alarmed when I found out that Coastwatch aircraft have sighted 42 illegal fishing vessels off our coast since the end of 2004. Currently, it is sighting between and two and three vessels daily, but we have apprehended two only, other than what the state Fisheries people have done. That is how many we are apprehending. A hoard of illegal fishing vessels is virtually coming down from Indonesia. The big worry that I have and that I know the Minister for Fisheries has is not only the problem of our fishing people conflicting with people coming down from Indonesia, but also the effect of these people from Indonesia on the growing tourism charter industry on the north west coast. There is some beautiful coastline up there and the fear is that it is only a matter of time before there is physical conflict between these invaders and the tourism operators. I urge members opposite to get their federal colleagues to restore the $1.2 million service that has been doing a good job and should continue.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.