Bills Digest No. 195 1997-98
Fisheries Legislation Amendment Bill (No. 1) 1998
WARNING:
This Digest was prepared for debate. It reflects the legislation as introduced
and does not canvass subsequent amendments. This Digest does not have
any official legal status. Other sources should be consulted to determine
the subsequent official status of the Bill.
CONTENTS
Passage History
Purpose
Background
Main Provisions
Endnotes
Contact Officer and Copyright Details
Fisheries
Legislation Amendment Bill (No. 1) 1998
Date Introduced: 8 April
1998
House: Senate
Portfolio: Resources
and Energy
Commencement: The Schedule prohibiting the commercial
taking of marlin commences 28 days after Royal
Assent. The amendments setting the final levy and export charge periods
are taken to have commenced on 1 July 1997 and the repeals of the prawn
promotion scheme legislation commence 3 years after Royal Assent.
The purpose of this legislation is twofold. It repeals
the 1995 legislative package that implements a scheme to promote Australian
sea-caught prawns (the Prawn Boat Levy Act 1995, the Prawn Export
Charge Act 1995 and the Prawn Export Promotion Act 1995). It
also amends the Fisheries Management Act 1991 to prohibit the commercial
taking of black marlin and blue marlin in the Australian fishing zone
(AFZ).
Marlin protection provisions
Blue and black marlin have little value to commercial
fishers as there is no domestic or export market for them. They are, however,
of interest to game fishing groups and attract overseas tourists who are
interested in fishing them. Data presented to a House of Representatives
inquiry into Commonwealth fisheries showed that the number of black and
blue marlin caught and tagged had declined massively in recent years.(1)
Since 1988 a voluntary ban on catching these fish by
commercial fishing operators has been in place, but there is some evidence
that a small number of operators have ignored the ban. The House of Representative
committee recommended that a mandatory ban be imposed to prevent further
depletion of stocks.(2) Such a ban is also in line with the Government's
1996 election commitment to impose a mandatory ban if the voluntary ban
was ineffective.
Prawn promotion scheme
In 1995 the previous Government introduced the Prawn
Boat Levy Act 1995, the Prawn Export Charge Act 1995 and the
Prawn Export Promotion Act 1995. This package of legislation imposed
a compulsory levy on commercial prawn boats, an export charge on sea-caught
prawns and provided for the collection, management and expenditure of
these funds. The funds collected were for use by the Australian Prawn
Promotion Association (APPA) to fund the promotion of sea-caught prawns
and the Australian prawn industry on world markets.
The current boat levy for a full levy period is $50 for
a ship less than 10 metres long; $100 for a ship that is at least 10 metres
but less than 15 metres long; $200 for a ship that is at least 15 metres
but less than 18 metres long; $400 for a ship that is at least 18 metres
but less than 20 metres long; and $600 for a ship that is at least 20
metres long. The export charge for prawns exported on or before 31 December
1997 was $0.02 a kilogram net weight of exports of sea-caught prawns,
parts of sea-caught prawns and prawn components of sea-caught prawns,
payable by an operator only after a threshold of 5,000 kilograms of prawns
was reached.
The levy collected was approximately $150 000 a year
and the export charge collected was approximately $240 000 a year depending
on the quantity of exports. This provided APPA with approximately $400
000 per annum for its promotion activities. The costs to the prawn operators
of this scheme were estimated to average $800 per year.
The present Government's policy on compulsory primary
industry levies is that they should only be imposed where they have 'substantial
industry support, and there is significant market failure'.(3) In December
1996 the Minister for Resources and Energy was approached by a group of
prawn operators who strongly opposed paying the compulsory levies and
charges. To test the general level of support for this levy Coopers and
Lybrand was commissioned to conduct a plebicite of the industry. The response
rate to the plebicite was 65%. Of those who responded, 85% opposed the
levy and charge. Those who support the continued operation of the scheme
expressed concern that without the funding provided by the levies and
charges APPA could not continue with its functions. However, after discussions
with APPA and the prawn operators and exporters the Government announced
that the levy and charge would be abolished from 1 January 1998.
The initial step in abolishing the scheme was to amend
the Prawn Export Promotion Levies and Charges Regulations. The amending
regulations (SR 409/1997) set the levy at $0.00 from 1 July 1988 and divided
the levy payments into two payments over the levy period. The payment
for each period is set at half of the rate already prescribed. The second
step is to legislate to cancel the levy payment for the second half of
the levy period (1 January - 30 June 1998) and to set a final levy period
so than no levy can be imposed from 1 January 1998. The final step is
to repeal the legislation that enacts the scheme.
Clause 4 allows the Acts repealed in the Schedules to
continue to apply in relation to a levy or charge imposed before the repeal
to facilitate the collection of outstanding levies.
Item 1 of Schedule 1 amends the Fisheries Management
Act 1991 by inserting section 15A. This section prohibits the taking
of black or blue marlin unless the person holds a scientific permit authorising
the taking, or the fish is taken in the course of recreational or charter
boat fishing. The penalty for not complying with this ban is 125 units
(a penalty unit currently equals $110).
It is a defence to a prosecution under this section to
satisfy the court that steps were taken to immediately return the fish
to its natural environment.
Item 1of Schedule 2 replaces section 5(2) of the
Prawn Boat Levy Act 1995, setting the final levy period as 1 July
- 31 December 1997. This amendment is taken to have commenced on 1 July
1997. Item 2 of Schedule 2 repeals the Prawn Boat Levy Act 1995
with the repeal commencing 3 years after Royal Assent.
Item 1 of Schedule 3 amends section 4 of the Prawn
Export Charge Act 1995 so that only those prawns exported from Australia
on or before 31 December 1997 are subject to the charge. This amendment
is taken to have commenced on 1 July 1997. Item 2 of Schedule 3
repeals the Prawn Export Charge Act 1995 with the repeal commencing
3 years after Royal Assent.
Schedule 4 repeals the Prawn Export Promotion
Act 1995 with the repeal commencing 3 years after Royal Assent.
- House of Representatives. Standing Committee on Primary Industries,
Resources and Rural and Regional Affairs, Managing Commonwealth Fisheries,
para. 13.24.
- Recommendation 37.
- Press Release by the Minister for Resources and Energy, Senator
the Hon. Warwick Parer, 4 November 1997.
Joanna Longley
8 May 1998
Bills Digest Service
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ISSN 1328-8091
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