1
00:00:00,480 --> 00:00:02,320
Speaker 1: If you want to know what's happening on the local

2
00:00:02,320 --> 00:00:05,480
Speaker 1: political landscape, Katie Wolf has it covered on three sixty.

3
00:00:05,920 --> 00:00:08,959
Speaker 2: Every one is listening Mixed one oh four point nine.

4
00:00:09,039 --> 00:00:11,160
Speaker 3: You are listening to Mix one oh four point nine.

5
00:00:11,240 --> 00:00:14,200
Speaker 3: Now we know that as part of this ongoing implementation

6
00:00:14,280 --> 00:00:18,760
Speaker 3: of the Blue Mud Bay Implementation Action Plan, the government

7
00:00:19,239 --> 00:00:21,560
Speaker 3: said earlier this week that they've written to the Northern

8
00:00:21,600 --> 00:00:25,799
Speaker 3: Land Council seeking to refresh long term access agreements to

9
00:00:25,840 --> 00:00:30,200
Speaker 3: popular recreational fishing areas overlaying aboriginal land in the top end.

10
00:00:30,280 --> 00:00:33,520
Speaker 3: So under the Blue Mud Bay Implementation Plan, the Northern

11
00:00:33,600 --> 00:00:36,680
Speaker 3: Territory and the Northern Territory Government and the Northern Land

12
00:00:36,720 --> 00:00:40,400
Speaker 3: Council so that they're committed to a series of actions

13
00:00:40,960 --> 00:00:44,200
Speaker 3: to lock in long term recreational fishing access and create

14
00:00:44,320 --> 00:00:48,080
Speaker 3: new opportunities and jobs for traditional owners. Now joining us

15
00:00:48,120 --> 00:00:50,280
Speaker 3: in the studio to talk a little bit more about

16
00:00:50,280 --> 00:00:52,840
Speaker 3: this situation and how things are going at the moment

17
00:00:53,479 --> 00:00:57,639
Speaker 3: is the Amateur Fishermen's Association of the Northern Territory CEO

18
00:00:57,840 --> 00:00:59,680
Speaker 3: David Girrevolo. Good morning to.

19
00:00:59,680 --> 00:01:00,840
Speaker 2: You, Good morning Katie.

20
00:01:01,160 --> 00:01:04,160
Speaker 3: Now, how are things going when it comes to this agreement.

21
00:01:04,600 --> 00:01:07,520
Speaker 1: Well, we're really pleased to see the development today, well

22
00:01:07,600 --> 00:01:10,560
Speaker 1: yesterday in fact, and the announcement from the Indigen's Affairs

23
00:01:10,560 --> 00:01:13,840
Speaker 1: Minister and the Minister for Recreational Fishing. And what that

24
00:01:13,920 --> 00:01:16,920
Speaker 1: means is that there is we understand there's an envelope

25
00:01:16,959 --> 00:01:22,360
Speaker 1: of funding available for long term access arrangements for some

26
00:01:22,440 --> 00:01:26,240
Speaker 1: of those key fishing grounds where traditional owners would like

27
00:01:26,360 --> 00:01:28,440
Speaker 1: to enter into an agreement in the future.

28
00:01:28,680 --> 00:01:31,440
Speaker 3: And so we don't really know how much funding that

29
00:01:31,600 --> 00:01:34,880
Speaker 3: is that's been put forward or exactly what the strings

30
00:01:34,920 --> 00:01:36,600
Speaker 3: are that are attached, I guess, but at the end

31
00:01:36,600 --> 00:01:38,240
Speaker 3: of the day, it's all about trying to make sure

32
00:01:38,280 --> 00:01:41,520
Speaker 3: that the NLC and our fisher and all of our

33
00:01:41,560 --> 00:01:42,959
Speaker 3: fishing industry work together.

34
00:01:43,480 --> 00:01:45,080
Speaker 2: So yeah, that's exactly right.

35
00:01:45,160 --> 00:01:48,440
Speaker 1: Look, a range of other areas across the territory that

36
00:01:48,480 --> 00:01:52,440
Speaker 1: are currently covered by long term access agreements, so places

37
00:01:52,680 --> 00:01:57,080
Speaker 1: like the Daily River that are Aboriginal owned waters, places

38
00:01:57,200 --> 00:01:59,920
Speaker 1: like king Ash Bay and the MacArthur River which again

39
00:02:00,160 --> 00:02:04,800
Speaker 1: Aboriginal owned waters, and intertitle zones. There are long term

40
00:02:04,840 --> 00:02:08,600
Speaker 1: access agreements that provide a range of benefits. It could

41
00:02:08,600 --> 00:02:11,720
Speaker 1: be range of funding, it can be more direct funding infrastructure,

42
00:02:11,720 --> 00:02:13,960
Speaker 1: that kind of thing. The specific deals are between the

43
00:02:13,960 --> 00:02:17,359
Speaker 1: traditional owners and the government, and what we understand is

44
00:02:17,400 --> 00:02:21,000
Speaker 1: a similar kind of offers are being put on the table.

45
00:02:21,240 --> 00:02:23,560
Speaker 1: And one thing people need to be clear about is

46
00:02:23,639 --> 00:02:25,600
Speaker 1: in accordance with the Aboriginal Land Rights Act.

47
00:02:25,639 --> 00:02:27,799
Speaker 2: It is up to the traditional owners to decide.

48
00:02:28,160 --> 00:02:30,080
Speaker 1: But one of the things that we've been really passionate

49
00:02:30,120 --> 00:02:32,440
Speaker 1: about and working behind the scenes with the government and

50
00:02:32,480 --> 00:02:36,440
Speaker 1: the NLC, is to make sure that there are offers

51
00:02:36,480 --> 00:02:39,280
Speaker 1: on the table for the consideration of traditional owners and

52
00:02:39,360 --> 00:02:40,800
Speaker 1: ultimately is up to them to decide.

53
00:02:40,919 --> 00:02:43,480
Speaker 3: And where I mean, from your perspective, where are things

54
00:02:43,520 --> 00:02:45,840
Speaker 3: at at the moment in terms of you know, how

55
00:02:46,000 --> 00:02:48,400
Speaker 3: this like, how it's sort of played out since that

56
00:02:48,440 --> 00:02:51,200
Speaker 3: announcement was made by the NLC a little bit earlier

57
00:02:51,240 --> 00:02:51,640
Speaker 3: this year.

58
00:02:51,880 --> 00:02:55,160
Speaker 1: Yeah, so there's been some big impacts on recreational fishing

59
00:02:55,160 --> 00:02:56,600
Speaker 1: at the start of the year and there was a

60
00:02:56,600 --> 00:02:59,760
Speaker 1: lot of confusion around that. Of course, we all tried

61
00:02:59,760 --> 00:03:01,840
Speaker 1: to work together as best we could, but it was

62
00:03:02,520 --> 00:03:04,440
Speaker 1: a difficult time. I think it's fair to say it.

63
00:03:04,440 --> 00:03:07,560
Speaker 1: Everyone wanted to acknowledge it was a difficult time. So

64
00:03:07,760 --> 00:03:12,160
Speaker 1: some areas immediately from March were closed in the Finnis

65
00:03:12,240 --> 00:03:16,240
Speaker 1: River up from about five kilometers upwards from the mouth

66
00:03:16,280 --> 00:03:19,400
Speaker 1: and the Fog Bay and the Little Finnis River and

67
00:03:19,440 --> 00:03:21,720
Speaker 1: the Mini Mini were some of those areas in the.

68
00:03:21,720 --> 00:03:23,679
Speaker 2: East Alligator with some of those areas where people lost

69
00:03:23,720 --> 00:03:24,200
Speaker 2: access to.

70
00:03:24,800 --> 00:03:28,480
Speaker 1: Since that time, we've seen some consultations occur with traditional owners.

71
00:03:28,520 --> 00:03:30,720
Speaker 1: The NLC has been out there and they've reported back

72
00:03:30,760 --> 00:03:33,080
Speaker 1: through the media and to us that there's been some

73
00:03:33,120 --> 00:03:36,000
Speaker 1: favorable outcomes for places like the East Alligator and the

74
00:03:36,000 --> 00:03:39,160
Speaker 1: Mini Mini where people can access it with that registration,

75
00:03:39,240 --> 00:03:42,320
Speaker 1: so they've got to go into the NLC website. But unfortunately,

76
00:03:42,600 --> 00:03:46,080
Speaker 1: from a fishing perspective, recreational fishes have not been able

77
00:03:46,080 --> 00:03:48,280
Speaker 1: to access that section of the Finness River we would

78
00:03:48,280 --> 00:03:52,400
Speaker 1: normally be able to access and so I think from

79
00:03:52,480 --> 00:03:55,240
Speaker 1: the Minister for Recreational Fishings comments on that media release

80
00:03:55,320 --> 00:03:58,920
Speaker 1: is that this envelope of funding is targeted at long

81
00:03:59,040 --> 00:04:00,880
Speaker 1: term agreements areements.

82
00:04:00,480 --> 00:04:02,680
Speaker 2: For the Finness and the Mini Minimurganella region.

83
00:04:02,960 --> 00:04:06,280
Speaker 3: Yeah, and you know, no doubt that a lot of

84
00:04:06,320 --> 00:04:08,760
Speaker 3: people will be quite pleased to hear that and quite

85
00:04:08,880 --> 00:04:10,680
Speaker 3: well hoping that they're going to be able to access

86
00:04:10,680 --> 00:04:12,920
Speaker 3: those thereas that they previously had been able.

87
00:04:12,720 --> 00:04:15,920
Speaker 1: To well, look, we certainly hope that and you know,

88
00:04:15,960 --> 00:04:17,800
Speaker 1: we certainly advocate for that.

89
00:04:17,839 --> 00:04:19,760
Speaker 2: We are always respectful of the fact that.

90
00:04:19,640 --> 00:04:21,919
Speaker 1: There is a decision for the traditional owners, but we

91
00:04:21,960 --> 00:04:25,360
Speaker 1: think there can be some real benefits here, you know,

92
00:04:25,400 --> 00:04:27,560
Speaker 1: funding for rangers to be on the water to help

93
00:04:27,600 --> 00:04:30,400
Speaker 1: care for country. But we've also been putting our best

94
00:04:30,400 --> 00:04:33,320
Speaker 1: foot forward corresponding with the NLC. You know, there are

95
00:04:33,800 --> 00:04:37,120
Speaker 1: areas like the Daily River have codes of conduct, there

96
00:04:37,160 --> 00:04:41,480
Speaker 1: are special bag limits in place for the conservation of Barramundi.

97
00:04:41,560 --> 00:04:43,920
Speaker 1: We've got afant runs a tagging program which have been

98
00:04:43,920 --> 00:04:47,080
Speaker 1: doing for twenty years and we can share that information.

99
00:04:46,760 --> 00:04:47,839
Speaker 2: With traditional owners.

100
00:04:47,839 --> 00:04:49,680
Speaker 1: So we've put that forward as well as something that

101
00:04:49,720 --> 00:04:53,839
Speaker 1: we'd be prepared to do. But obviously the main negotiating

102
00:04:53,880 --> 00:04:56,880
Speaker 1: partners here. In fact the negotiating partners are the territory

103
00:04:56,880 --> 00:05:00,599
Speaker 1: government and the Northern Land Council, and so it is

104
00:05:00,680 --> 00:05:04,200
Speaker 1: pleasing to see progress, but of course we're not actually

105
00:05:04,240 --> 00:05:05,960
Speaker 1: directly involved in those negotiations.

106
00:05:06,000 --> 00:05:08,760
Speaker 3: Now, how are things going with the you know, having

107
00:05:08,800 --> 00:05:11,039
Speaker 3: to register if you are heading out to some of

108
00:05:11,080 --> 00:05:12,279
Speaker 3: those waterways to fish.

109
00:05:12,720 --> 00:05:16,039
Speaker 1: So I'm not privy to the numbers of registrations I've

110
00:05:16,080 --> 00:05:18,880
Speaker 1: spoken to quite a few fishers who have got the registrations.

111
00:05:18,920 --> 00:05:21,720
Speaker 1: I think one of the problems we had initially was

112
00:05:21,760 --> 00:05:23,960
Speaker 1: that the registration didn't cover a lot of the places

113
00:05:23,960 --> 00:05:27,240
Speaker 1: people actually wanted to go fishing atp I would suspect

114
00:05:27,240 --> 00:05:30,680
Speaker 1: that now that the East Alligator and the Mini Mini

115
00:05:30,760 --> 00:05:33,880
Speaker 1: region are covered by it, and that later on in

116
00:05:33,880 --> 00:05:36,080
Speaker 1: the year, especially in the build up, we'll see a

117
00:05:36,080 --> 00:05:39,360
Speaker 1: lot more fishing activity around the Mini Mini that more

118
00:05:39,480 --> 00:05:42,120
Speaker 1: people will avail themselves of that. I think if the

119
00:05:42,160 --> 00:05:45,839
Speaker 1: Finness River was to come online through that kind of arrangement,

120
00:05:46,279 --> 00:05:48,000
Speaker 1: then we would see a lot more uptake.

121
00:05:48,160 --> 00:05:52,000
Speaker 3: What's the feedback been from you from those that are

122
00:05:52,080 --> 00:05:54,800
Speaker 3: recreational fishes though, in terms of has it been quite

123
00:05:54,839 --> 00:05:57,320
Speaker 3: an easy sort of process despite not being able to

124
00:05:57,360 --> 00:05:59,479
Speaker 3: access some of those areas where they might be keen to.

125
00:06:00,000 --> 00:06:02,640
Speaker 2: I think the process itself has been quite easy.

126
00:06:02,720 --> 00:06:07,200
Speaker 1: I think communication around the areas that actually is covered

127
00:06:07,240 --> 00:06:09,440
Speaker 1: by the registration is something that we're working on with

128
00:06:09,520 --> 00:06:12,039
Speaker 1: the NLC to make sure it's always up to date

129
00:06:12,040 --> 00:06:14,400
Speaker 1: and as crystal clear as it can be. I've been

130
00:06:14,440 --> 00:06:17,320
Speaker 1: having some conversations with Marion about how we can just

131
00:06:17,400 --> 00:06:20,400
Speaker 1: really optimize that, but you know, overwhelmingly the feedback that

132
00:06:20,440 --> 00:06:23,520
Speaker 1: we get is and with full respect to the traditional

133
00:06:23,560 --> 00:06:25,760
Speaker 1: owners who have the right to decide who comes to

134
00:06:25,839 --> 00:06:30,440
Speaker 1: visit these places. Territorians are very connected to these rivers

135
00:06:30,480 --> 00:06:33,400
Speaker 1: and these coastlines. They love these places, many cases been

136
00:06:33,520 --> 00:06:36,839
Speaker 1: visiting them all their lives through multi generations, and a

137
00:06:36,839 --> 00:06:40,280
Speaker 1: lot of people feel really hurt by that loss of access.

138
00:06:40,360 --> 00:06:42,800
Speaker 1: So that's why that's probably the number one thing that

139
00:06:42,839 --> 00:06:45,240
Speaker 1: we hear from people, is that they are upset about that,

140
00:06:45,320 --> 00:06:47,679
Speaker 1: and they want to know if progress is being made,

141
00:06:47,760 --> 00:06:52,200
Speaker 1: And that's why we're really hopeful that progress can be made.

142
00:06:52,240 --> 00:06:54,560
Speaker 1: And I think, Katie, I'd really like to acknowledge that

143
00:06:54,839 --> 00:06:57,279
Speaker 1: since the Blue My Bay decision in two thousand and eight,

144
00:06:58,600 --> 00:07:02,520
Speaker 1: in the twelve years or more since then, by and large,

145
00:07:02,960 --> 00:07:06,400
Speaker 1: most areas traditional owners have continued to invite people to

146
00:07:06,440 --> 00:07:09,840
Speaker 1: come and to visit, and so the long term trend

147
00:07:09,880 --> 00:07:14,280
Speaker 1: really has been of traditional owners sharing their country. Clearly,

148
00:07:14,320 --> 00:07:16,800
Speaker 1: there's a need for more negotiations. Clearly there's some areas

149
00:07:16,800 --> 00:07:18,680
Speaker 1: that are out of bounds now that weren't out of

150
00:07:18,720 --> 00:07:23,000
Speaker 1: bounds until very recently, and really hoping there is opportunity

151
00:07:23,040 --> 00:07:24,800
Speaker 1: for positive progress here.

152
00:07:24,720 --> 00:07:26,640
Speaker 3: Yeah, what do you reckon change? Like, you know, I

153
00:07:26,720 --> 00:07:31,720
Speaker 3: did something sort of change that you guys are aware of,

154
00:07:32,400 --> 00:07:35,120
Speaker 3: you know, to mean that you wouldn't be able to

155
00:07:35,160 --> 00:07:37,440
Speaker 3: go to those areas that you had previously been able to,

156
00:07:37,480 --> 00:07:39,200
Speaker 3: you know, like, was there something that had upset the

157
00:07:39,240 --> 00:07:41,640
Speaker 3: traditional owners? From what your perspective, I.

158
00:07:41,600 --> 00:07:43,440
Speaker 1: Think it's important that I don't try to put words

159
00:07:43,440 --> 00:07:46,600
Speaker 1: in other people's mouths or speak for traditional owners. But

160
00:07:46,760 --> 00:07:49,320
Speaker 1: you know, I think anyone could imagine that if they

161
00:07:49,320 --> 00:07:52,560
Speaker 1: are involved in negotiation that they hadn't seen an outcome

162
00:07:52,640 --> 00:07:56,920
Speaker 1: for for twelve years, you could imagine why someone might

163
00:07:56,960 --> 00:08:00,640
Speaker 1: want to change tact in the negotiating approach. Now what's happened,

164
00:08:01,160 --> 00:08:03,400
Speaker 1: But clearly there is a need for the government to

165
00:08:03,440 --> 00:08:06,520
Speaker 1: put its best foot forward. And you know, given how

166
00:08:06,560 --> 00:08:10,240
Speaker 1: important a place like the Finish River is to recreational

167
00:08:10,280 --> 00:08:13,760
Speaker 1: fishes as well as traditional owners, it really is incumbent

168
00:08:14,360 --> 00:08:17,720
Speaker 1: on the government to make sure that the offer on

169
00:08:17,760 --> 00:08:20,880
Speaker 1: the table can be a creative solution and that it

170
00:08:20,920 --> 00:08:24,240
Speaker 1: should be something that works for everybody. In all the

171
00:08:24,280 --> 00:08:26,520
Speaker 1: things that I've heard, I don't think I've heard anything

172
00:08:26,560 --> 00:08:30,160
Speaker 1: that would be sort of insurmountable in terms of you know,

173
00:08:30,240 --> 00:08:33,640
Speaker 1: traditional owners want more involvement in management, or want to

174
00:08:33,640 --> 00:08:35,560
Speaker 1: be able to care for country better, or want to

175
00:08:35,960 --> 00:08:37,800
Speaker 1: want to know better about what's happening on the river

176
00:08:37,840 --> 00:08:41,360
Speaker 1: in terms of visitation. Surely we can work on all

177
00:08:41,400 --> 00:08:43,320
Speaker 1: that stuff together, and I hope that this is an

178
00:08:43,360 --> 00:08:46,319
Speaker 1: indication of a positive step in that direction.

179
00:08:46,400 --> 00:08:48,280
Speaker 3: But by the sounds of it, you know, our rick

180
00:08:48,360 --> 00:08:50,960
Speaker 3: Fishes and our fan tore will and truly they're ready

181
00:08:51,000 --> 00:08:52,600
Speaker 3: to do what you can do to try and make

182
00:08:52,600 --> 00:08:53,040
Speaker 3: it happen.

183
00:08:53,480 --> 00:08:57,160
Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely, and also what more we can do. You know,

184
00:08:57,400 --> 00:09:00,000
Speaker 1: we're always up for a chat. We're always we're always

185
00:09:00,080 --> 00:09:03,520
Speaker 1: willing to talk. We've met with lots of toos over

186
00:09:03,559 --> 00:09:05,600
Speaker 1: the years. We do that through the NLC. That's the

187
00:09:05,640 --> 00:09:09,080
Speaker 1: appropriate way for that to happen, usually through the committee's processes.

188
00:09:09,600 --> 00:09:12,960
Speaker 1: But look, we're absolutely here and willing to talk and

189
00:09:13,000 --> 00:09:15,360
Speaker 1: engage with the NLC and the government on this at

190
00:09:15,400 --> 00:09:16,920
Speaker 1: any time as we continue to do so.

191
00:09:17,120 --> 00:09:19,160
Speaker 3: Yeah, well, David, it will be interesting to see where

192
00:09:19,160 --> 00:09:21,800
Speaker 3: it all lands, and we really appreciate you coming into

193
00:09:21,800 --> 00:09:23,600
Speaker 3: the studio this morning to give us a bit more

194
00:09:23,600 --> 00:09:27,680
Speaker 3: detail about it. David Chirrovolo, CEO of FAT the Amateur

195
00:09:27,720 --> 00:09:30,160
Speaker 3: Fishermen's Association here in the Northern Territory.

196
00:09:30,200 --> 00:09:31,480
Speaker 2: Thank you, Thanks Katie,