Below is the opinion and research of Marine Queensland's CEO - Mr Don Jones. The staff at JCM have been paying attention to what both parties have promised in the past and what they have done /have failed to do also. It seems that Labor is being puppeted by the Greens for preferential votes and our industry does not have enough political force to reckon with them. Well we do, we vote! So read the CEO comments below and make your opinion, but do it on fact, not emotion and make your vote count!

Extract below from Marine Queensland:

The governing Labor Party and the opposition Liberal/National Coalition are in full swing of presenting their bids for government with the launch of their formal campaigns for support at the federal election on 21st August.

Elections are important, as they give effect to our democracy and institutions and anoint leaders and provide mandates for government. What governments do, or fail to do, and how leaders lead makes a material difference to our economic life and social wellbeing.

Marine Queensland has been actively participating in the national bioregional planning process of the current Labor Government. This process which was commenced by the previous Howard Government was originally aimed at providing a comprehensive profile of the Commonwealth waters so government could make informed decisions on the multiple uses industry and the community seeks. Naturally an outcome of this process was to be the establishment of appropriate protection regimes where environmental protection was deemed a necessary intervention. Unfortunately what we have witnessed however is an important opportunity high-jacked where it is now all about anti-fishing and the creation of vast marine parks.

The Coalition has recently released its Policy on Marine Protected areas. Key elements of this policy include:
   - Restructuring the current Marine Bioregional Planning process in order to address community and industry concerns about the current process;
   - Provide a fair and balanced Displaced Effort Policy which will be jointly administered and chaired by the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry and the Minister for Environmental Protection, Heritage and Arts;
   - Base Marine Protected Areas on science which is independent and peer reviewed and made available to all stakeholders including affected communities and industries;
   - Establish sensible and balanced Marine Park boundaries and develop management plans in consultation with industry. All Marine protected areas will be signed off by both the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry and the Minister for Environmental Protection, Heritage and Arts.

At the same time the Greens has also released its Policy. In contrast the Greens are seeking to mandate:
   - A minimum of 30% of each bioregion as marine protected areas;
   - Introduce legislation to force the States to mirror the Commonwealth protection zones in State controlled waters.

The Labor Party has not made any policy announcements on this issue.

As an observation, the media has reported these issues widely. Also, there has been a wide range of public protest initiatives organized by various groups around the State raising serious concerns with the current process as well as the proposed Greens policy.

Whatever the outcome of the election on August 21, what is clear is that there are very strong views within regional communities and within the Marine Industry of the critical importance of a sensible, balanced approach to marine bioregional planning in this State. Given the stark differences in policy positions by the major parties, the outcome of the election will be critical to the future direction of the Marine Industry in this State and the important roles it plays within regional communities.