The Nationals have secured greater certainty for commercial fishers after successfully moving amendments to the Agriculture and Food Safety Legislation Amendment Bill 2024 in State Parliament.
Labor was seeking to force onerous background checks not only on commercial fishing licence holders, but on also their families, staff and suppliers.
Under concessions won by The Nationals, only the licence holder will need to be deemed of “good repute”, which is aimed at safeguarding food safety and quality.
A fishing licensee’s right to appeal a decision to suspend their license on grounds of “good repute” will remain.
The Nationals’ Melina Bath said eastern Victoria is home to half of the state’s coastline and said the win is one that saved local jobs.
“Eastern Victoria’s fishing industry in Mornington, San Remo, Port Welshpool and Lakes Entrance generates hundreds of millions in economic value and supports thousands of jobs,” she said.
“The Allan Government should be focusing on supporting the industry to remain viable and sustainable, instead of introducing unnecessary regulations that stymy it.”
Speaking in parliament, Ms Bath said if left unchanged, Labor’s legislation would have unfairly held the commercial fishing industry to a standard that is not applied in any other sector.
“Labor’s proposed legislation, which included extensive background checks on staff and suppliers, was an overreach – one could only imagine the outcry if this standard was applied to Labor’s city big build sites,” she said.
“Improving oversight and food safety is one thing, but imposing unrealistic standards on our seafood industry that threatens its viability and jobs is bureaucratic madness.
“I am pleased that locals and the thousands of tourists that love our eastern Victoria coastline can continue to enjoy seafood on their family’s dining table.”
