Fisheries Research Advisory Board Question

	Extract from Hansard Legislative Council 9 November 2000

Ian Gilfillan Australian Democrats Member of the Legislative Council		Parliament Index 2000 Spring Sitting Index Browse by Subject Search all Democrats material About the SA Parliament Hansard on line

The Hon. IAN GILFILLAN: I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Attorney- General, representing the Deputy Premier, a question about appointments to the Fisheries Research Advisory Board.

The Hon. IAN GILFILLAN: The Fisheries Research Advisory Board, which is a South Australian entity, is ministerially appointed to assess and prioritise annual research applications and give advice to the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation, which is a federal corporation which gives advice directly to the federal government. FRAB, the South Australian entity, makes important decisions about the priorities for research for the fishing industry every year. It is important that it is a properly functioning committee with a broad spectrum of views and expertise so that the interests of the industry are best served. There is an independent chair, five standing members, including the chief scientist of SARDI, the Director of Fisheries and the General Manager of SAFIC, and eight members with expertise in various fields, namely, marine biology, habitat, environment, economy/commerce, social science, marketing, fish management and industry needs.

In 1996, the South Australian FRAB was convened with 14 members. Presently, out of the 13 possible members, the board is convened with only three valid members and the chair. The standing members all received letters from the department saying that they were no longer members. That follows the minister's announcement in September 2000 that a review of operations was being conducted. Some of the standing members continue to turn up anyway as they feel it is their duty to the industry, but they are not valid members just the same. This lack of a properly appointed board has been the case since April. The minister publicly called for the replacement of members whose terms had expired back in February and, despite being given that list of recommended board members in April, appointments for the rest of the board have not been made.

The last meeting of FRAB was convened with the chair, three valid members and representatives of DEH, SAFIC and SARFAC. They made decisions on the research priorities for the fishing industry for the next year and, while nobody doubts the expertise and efforts of the current FRAB members, it is quite unacceptable that this important work is done with such a small number of people who are formally appointed to the board. My questions are:

1. Why has there been such a delay in appointing the full complement of the board?

2. Why did the minister not follow the recommendations given to him in April this year of names to fill the vacancies on the board?

3. If he was not happy with the recommendations, why has he not called for further applications?

4. Why should it have to depend on ministerial appointments in any case as it is run by the industry's money and does not report to the minister in South Australia but, rather, to the federal government?

The Hon. K.T. GRIFFIN (Attorney-General): I will refer the questions to my colleague in another place and bring back a reply.