REPORTER

[… inaudible…] Women's Association claims there was inadequate consultation on your part when you announced 15 per cent pot reductions. They say the advice came from you meeting with Ron Edwards from RLIAC and Dexter Davies. What's your response to that?

NORMAN MOORE

Well, when the second puerulus count came out since I've been the minister, which showed alarming levels of puerulus being collected, I decided that very, very urgent action had to be taken. And so I had a meeting with the RLIAC members, with the Rock Lobster Council members, with the Department of Fisheries itself, with processors, and we brought them all together and I said: "Right, now you've got to tell me what the problem is and how it can be resolved." And out of that very long meeting came the decision to reduce the… the number of pots by 15 per cent.

I didn't have enough… have any more time than that to deal with what could be quite an alarming prospect for the industry.

REPORTER

Okay, now they're saying that the announcement was made the day before a meeting with industry and the advisory… that advisory committee, RLIAC, to discuss these very issues and they… they are concerned about that fact: that it was announced beforehand and that you didn't wait to consult with the industry on that. Now, could it have waited those extra few days, or few weeks?

NORMAN MOORE

Well, I don't believe it could wait the extra few weeks because the decisions that we made were going to be very difficult and we wanted to give fishermen as much time as possible to adjust to the new circumstances. So I took the matter to Cabinet and it was, in my belief, that it would be unfair for the rock… RLIAC and the Lobster Council representatives to go to these meetings knowing that the Government had already made a decision, and so we did it quickly and they were informed as quickly as possible of the Government's decision.

REPORTER

Okay. Now… um… they're saying that from their research they've discovered that the independent chair of RLIAC, Ron Edwards, is registered as a lobbyist for Latitude Fisheries. That concerns them, that's a fishery that has two large licences – crayfishing licences – and it's owned by Bert Boschetti. Are you aware that he's also acting as a lobbyist?

NORMAN MOORE

Oh, I know that Mr Edwards is a lobbyist. I'm not aware though that... that precludes him from being the chairman of RLIAC. I might add I inherited him as the chairman, he was already there. One can only assume that he was appointed properly by the previous government, but I'll look at that and if there is a conflict then I'll deal with that.

REPORTER

Can you see that there could be conflict given that he could be acting on behalf of larger potholders at the expense of smaller potholders in decisions that are made?

NORMAN MOORE

Well, it's not for me to speculate about that because it would be unfair to make a judgement until I know the facts.

REPORTER

Okay. Should... the other issue that they have is that Leonie Noble was taken off the advisory committee. Why did you do that?

NORMAN MOORE

Well, when I became the Minister, I found that RLIAC did not have a quorum and so I requested advice from industry and from the department about who should be on it and who should fill the vacancies and whether any changes should be made. We sat down – as we did with the decision on the 15 per cent – and made some… made some decisions about who should be changed on the board, and that decision was taken to Cabinet and they approved.

REPORTER

Okay. Why did you specifically choose her? Can you…?

NORMAN MOORE

Oh, well I… it was just people in industry saying to me these are the sort of people that… that we think would be appropriate to go on RLIAC and that… and that was the decision we took. It's… it's… I might add it's only for 12 months, so I'm having a good, hard look at whether RLIAC is the right sort of… has the right composition, if you like, to give me the sort of advice I need, because it's made up fundamentally of fishermen who are going to have a fishermen's point-of-view. I think that the advisory council perhaps needs to have a broader range of expertise so that we can get the views of people other than fishermen about the future of that industry.

REPORTER

Okay. Are you aware that she’s been replaced by Erica Starling, who is Bert Boschetti’s daughter?

NORMAN MOORE

Well I’m aware she’s been replaced by Erica Starling because I obviously took that to Cabinet, but I’m not aware that... of her relationship with Mr Boschetti.

REPORTER

Okay, so you’re unaware that they’re father-daughter relationship, because that... that’s looking... that’s concerning to the Women’s Association.

NORMAN MOORE

Well it doesn’t matter because you see in this industry most people know everybody else, it’s a fairly tight-knit industry. It wouldn’t matter who you appointed from the rock lobster industry, you would find people who have... know somebody else, who are related to somebody else who might know somebody else’s brother-in-law or whatever, and so it’s very hard to say well if somebody’s the daughter of somebody else that they can’t be a member of RLIAC, that would be very unfair.

REPORTER

All right. And I guess what they are asking for is a reconsideration of the 15 per cent pot reduction to other methods of conservation and they’re talking about, you know, perhaps making the max... reducing the maximum size of... of... you know, throw... so you’re throwing back more lobsters, the older lobsters... more of the older lobsters get thrown back, or the larger lobsters, and more of the younger lobsters get thrown back. Is that something that you would reconsider? They say that that’s a fairer system rather than the pot reductions.

NORMAN MOORE

Well the group that gave me advice on this looked at a whole range of options and there are a number of different options. You know, the view was taken that the simplest one and the easiest one to implement quickly was the 15 per cent pot reduction, and I don’t intend to change that.

The bottom line is fundamentally we’ve got to catch less crayfish and there are a number of ways of doing that. This is one of the ways which was considered by the people who provided me with advice as the simplest and easiest way to implement it, given that it was such a short time frame in respect to the decision of when the season started. But the bottom line is – and fishermen need to understand this – the fish... the fishery is under potentially significant threat and the puerulus count is quite alarming and it gives us to believe that in the next three of four years the industry could be in a... in a puerulus state and I’m about to do something... and I’ve done something about that.

REPORTER

Okay. But in terms of the lobbyist connection and who his... who Ron Edwards is lobbying for, you will have a look at that?

NORMAN MOORE

I’ll have a look at that, but at the end of the day the decision is mine. I’ve taken the decision to reduce the pot numbers for fishermen because I have an obligation as the Minister to try and preserve that fishery.

REPORTER

Okay. So... and, I mean, they’re talking about taking their information to the CCC and having them investigate it because they are concerned there might be corrupt dealings.

NORMAN MOORE

Well that’s their prerogative. I mean anybody can take matters to the CCC if they wish. But at the end of the day I take responsibility for the final decision, which I took to Cabinet, and that decision was one that was based on the advice I received, but on... on the... on the belief in my own mind that if I didn’t take some very strong action now and next year we may see the demise of this industry and that would be a terrible tragedy.