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Speaker 1: We know the Northern Territory Seafood Council is calling for

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Speaker 1: the withdrawal of the Fisheries Legislation Amendment Bill of twenty

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Speaker 1: twenty two and seeking genuine consultation on proposed changes to

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Speaker 1: the Fisheries Act so that current and future investments are

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Speaker 1: not jeopardized. So the Northern Territory Seafood Council Chief Executive

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Speaker 1: Officer Katherine Winchester has said that seafood businesses in both

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Speaker 1: wild harvest and aquaculture are looking to put their investments

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Speaker 1: on hold as they're unclear of the Northern Territory government's

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Speaker 1: vision for the seafood industry. And joining me on the

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Speaker 1: line right now is the Northern Territory Seafood Council's Chief

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Speaker 1: Executive Officer, Katherine Winchester. Good morning to you.

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Speaker 2: Katherine, Good morning Katie.

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Speaker 1: Catherine. Tell me why are you calling on the government

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Speaker 1: to withdraw this legislation.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, simply, we're calling on the government to withdraw the

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Speaker 2: legislation to instead commit to make sure that they we

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Speaker 2: have a process to review the Fisheries Act which genuinely

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Speaker 2: consults key stakeholders like the Seafood Council. The seafood businesses,

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Speaker 2: fishing tour operators and the land councils to make sure

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Speaker 2: that we get it right, because if we don't get

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Speaker 2: it right, as you said in your intro, we've already

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Speaker 2: got businesses that are putting their investments on hold simply

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Speaker 2: because the consultation and engagement hasn't been done and they're

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Speaker 2: really unsure as to what the future holds for the

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Speaker 2: seafood industry here in the territory.

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Speaker 1: What are some of those businesses saying to you right now.

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Speaker 2: I've worked with the Seafood Council for seventeen years now

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Speaker 2: and I've never heard more distressing stories come from businesses.

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Speaker 2: We held a business roundtable with Minister Kirby so he

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Speaker 2: could hear directly from these businesses as well. Businesses who

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Speaker 2: have spent millions and millions of dollars in recent years

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Speaker 2: and got millions more to spend in infrastructure, training and capacity.

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Speaker 2: They're looking at collaborations with communities as well, and because

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Speaker 2: they're not or will we have access to our fishing grounds,

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Speaker 2: will we have access to resources? Where does the Blue

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Speaker 2: Mud Bay High Court decision was about the intertitle zone,

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Speaker 2: but these changes affect all waters and resources in all

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Speaker 2: of our oceans and rivers. So they're really unsure as

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Speaker 2: to what the rules are going to be and whether

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Speaker 2: or not the certainties there for them to invest. So

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Speaker 2: some of these businesses are literally saying, can you give

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Speaker 2: me an update because my board is asking what's happening

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Speaker 2: in the territory and we're considering our current and future

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Speaker 2: investment commitments. They've got money to spend and they want

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Speaker 2: to spend it. But you can understand a business isn't

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Speaker 2: going to spend money if the confidence isn't there to

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Speaker 2: actually get the returns, or if they can't get what

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Speaker 2: they're investing in.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, so Catherine, this is broader than the Blue Mud

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Speaker 1: Bay negotiations, isn't it.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, that's what our concern is. It's you know, the

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Speaker 2: Blue Mud Baying negotiations have been in place for fourteen

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Speaker 2: years and we've been patiently sitting at the table and

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Speaker 2: you know, we're ready to implement change we want. We've

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Speaker 2: heard from the Land Council that it's permits for our sector.

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Speaker 2: We're working really well with the Land Council to transition

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Speaker 2: through to that process. It's early days, there's lots of unknowns,

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Speaker 2: but that part's the simple part. The Fisheries Act changes, though,

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Speaker 2: really concern us because it's introducing introducing a new sort

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Speaker 2: of object into the Act, and the objects are like

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Speaker 2: the guiding principles for a piece of legislation, and we're

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Speaker 2: really concerned that by adding a new object that is

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Speaker 2: acknowledging Aboriginal people's interests cultural, cultural, and spiritual and their

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Speaker 2: relationship not the relationship, but aquatic resources. What we're really

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Speaker 2: concerned about is if we don't get the wording of

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Speaker 2: that right, are we setting a situation up where the

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Speaker 2: government is actually positively discriminating one that the stakeholder's needs

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Speaker 2: against everyone else's. And we do believe that there's tension

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Speaker 2: being caused by the way that they're approaching it. So

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Speaker 2: we're saying, please withdraw it, let's get it right. We

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Speaker 2: fully support having the Fisheries at Amendment done, but we

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Speaker 2: want it done in a way that's going to build confidence.

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Speaker 2: It's going to build the you know, the confidences for

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Speaker 2: everyone's businesses, communities going forward. We just don't have a

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Speaker 2: clear vision on what the future looks like, and our

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Speaker 2: concern is that these changes are going to put one

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Speaker 2: stakeholder's needs above everyone else's and it expands it everywhere.

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Speaker 1: Now, Catherine, I know that the Northern Territory government talks

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Speaker 1: a lot, obviously about the reaching a forty billion dollar

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Speaker 1: economy by twenty thirty. How does something like this sort

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Speaker 1: of you know, demonstrate that maybe they're orders open to

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Speaker 1: industry as what they think they are.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, that's the thing. We've got this goal. There's never

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Speaker 2: been a more exciting time to tap into infrastructure dollars

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Speaker 2: in particular. But if the confidence isn't there for the

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Speaker 2: businesses that they can have certainty in their future, then

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Speaker 2: they're not going to invest. So on one part of

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Speaker 2: the conversation, we hear these really positive, encouraging messages, but

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Speaker 2: then the other part is, by the way, we're just

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Speaker 2: going to rush these changes through even though you've raised

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Speaker 2: some very serious concerns to us, and we know that

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Speaker 2: it's impacting on business decisions. Now, you know, we've got

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Speaker 2: to get that right. It's the territory could have an

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Speaker 2: amazing future if we actually had We want people to

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Speaker 2: sit around the table. We want that code design what

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Speaker 2: does the future look like for our industry. But if

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Speaker 2: we don't do that step and we make these changes

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Speaker 2: and we make them hastily, we could be eroding the

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Speaker 2: very thing that underpins success, which is collaboration between businesses

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Speaker 2: and communities new ventures. We know we've got businesses looking

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Speaker 2: at really exciting economic opportunities that are one hundred percent

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Speaker 2: to pay on partnerships with communities, but they won't go

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Speaker 2: ahead if they're not certain that they'll actually have access

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Speaker 2: to either the fishing grounds or if there's question marks

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Speaker 2: over the access to the resources. So it's really scary

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Speaker 2: times for us.

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Speaker 1: So, Catherine, the message really for the Northern Territory government

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Speaker 1: is please get back to the table and have some

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Speaker 1: genuine negotiation.

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Speaker 2: Absolutely, that's all we're asking for. We're not saying no,

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Speaker 2: don't change it. Let's change it so that everyone's confident

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Speaker 2: going forward. We really do have a tremendous opportunity to

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Speaker 2: get it right. But rushing something through at the eleventh hour.

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Speaker 2: It's not that we spent the last fourteen years talking

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Speaker 2: about how the fishery fact needs to change. These changes

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Speaker 2: come in literally in the last few months and trying

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Speaker 2: to be put through government. Possibly today, we'll see it

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Speaker 2: get passed and then we'll have to deal with the

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Speaker 2: fallout from there.

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Speaker 1: Well, Catherine Winchester, please keep in please keep in contact

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Speaker 1: with us and let us know whether that does pass.

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Speaker 1: We'll keep an eye on it as well, but we

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Speaker 1: really appreciate you having a chat with us this morning.

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Speaker 2: No, thank you very much, Katie.

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Speaker 1: Thank you