THIS election, Australia’s fish charity OzFish has invited Tanya Plibersek, Julie Collins, Jonothan Duniam, Perin Davey and other MPs to take a break from campaigning and come fishing with locals in their electorate’s waterways.
The charity, that restores aquatic habitat across Australia has been advocating for action to prevent fish kills, has reached out individually to MPs in the water, environment and fisheries spaces.
OzFish CEO, Cassie Price said: “We know election campaigns are hectic, and research shows fishing is great for mental health. We’ll bring the rods and bait and together we can throw a line in, and talk about ways we can support Australians to take action to restore and protect our fish stocks and waterways.”
Price reassured the nations MPs that if they are not in the 1 in 5 Australians who fish, they can instead drop by one of OzFish’s on-ground projects in their electorate and work shoulder to shoulder with locals restoring waterways and aquatic habitat.
“We have over 100 active community-led projects improving waterway health for fish across Australia, including Seagrass for Snapper, Shellfish Revolution, critical work in the Murray Darling Basin, and projects targeted at reducing pest species like carp and tilapia. There will be a project near most electorates in Australia. They can work shoulder to shoulder with OzFishers and locals building oyster habitat, removing rubbish from a creek, or emptying unwanted fishing gear from tackle bins.”
“We know Australians were horrified by the devastating blackwater fishkill in Northern New South Wales, and other fish kill events this year. Late summer has been tough for fish around the country.”
“Australia’s fish, and fish habitat, have been hit hard over the last century. Urgent work must be undertaken to restore our waterways, and to help them be resilient to a rapidly changing climate – and that’s where OzFish come in.”
For almost a decade, OzFish has brought scientists, government, organisations and communities together to give recreational fishers and other passionate locals the tools, inspiration and support to restore their own local waterways and fish habitats.
“Solutions to complex issues aren’t simple,” said Ms Price, “But we’ve got some great science already, and we know where to start.”
This federal election, OzFish is calling for all political parties contesting the 2025 Australian federal election to commit to four federal fixes for fish that can restore Australia’s vital waterways:
- Double aquatic habitat restoration across Australia. OzFish is calling for $3 million each year from 2025 to 2029, to double community-led fish and aquatic habitat restoration works across 30+ new regions.
- Commit to a National Ecosystem Restoration Policy to reduce red tape and get on-ground restoration work happening faster. Parties must commit to a National Ecosystem Restoration Policy that will address Federal Government issues and drive similar policies in State Governments so that NGO’s can use the money they raise to restore habitats faster and spend hard won funds more effectively.
- $1.5 million to fund the second stage of the National Fish Habitat and Climate Response Partnership for 2025-2029. $300k per year, for 5 years in funding to bring the nation’s leaders in recreational, indigenous and commercial fishing, together with blue carbon, aquatic habitat and climate change experts to act on the latest research and solutions.
- $1 million for community action on pest fish. Using community-driven data capture, OzFish’s scientists will coordinate a nation-wide data capture to record pest fish movements and breeding aggregations. The findings can be used to inform a targeted, research-based nation-wide response to the pest fish decimating our native fish and their habitat.
“If implemented, these four fixes for fish, driven and delivered by everyday locals, will help protect our native fish, help reduce pest fish, protect our waterways, fishing and fish stocks for the future,” said Price.
OzFish has sent personal invitations to the nation’s political leaders. OzFish will publicly support policies that align with these fixes, or that could significantly improve Australia’s waterways.
