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Queensland election 2024: OzFish welcomes new government, urges focus on fish habitat restoration.

OzFish Unlimited

Australia’s key fish habitat restoration charity OzFish welcomes Premier David Crisafulli and the newly elected Queensland government and looks forward to working with them to continue to support and inspire rec fishers, and all Queenslanders, to take action for their waterways, and habitats for native fish.

 

OzFish CEO Cass Price extended her congratulations to Minister for Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation, Mr Andrew Powell, and Minister for Primary Industries, Mr Anthony Perrett.

 

She also thanked outgoing Premier Steven Miles, and the outgoing Minister for the Environment and the Great Barrier Reef, Leeanne Linard, and Minister for Agricultural Industry Development and Fisheries, Mark Furner for their contribution and support towards OzFish’s critical work.

 

OzFish run a range of on ground project works in Queensland to restore local biodiversity, improve water quality, boost fish populations and mitigate climate change. These projects include restoring Saltwater Creeks in Cairns and the Gold Coast, and rebuilding crucial oyster reefs in Moreton Bay and the Nerang River, and more.

 

Ms Price said, “We congratulate Premier David Crisafulli, Mr Powell and Mr Perrett, and the incoming Queensland government on their election win, and look forward to working with them to ensure Queensland’s waterways, fish – and fishing – stay on the agenda.”

 

“It is crucial that processes in Queensland for on-groundwork approvals are streamlined to reduce red-tape for environmental restoration. This will support us to hit the ground faster, and we will be working with the incoming government to convey the importance of this step.”

 

“To have thriving fish populations, we need functional fish habitats, especially nursery habitats in rivers, coastal wetlands, saltmarsh, mangrove and seagrasses. We’re finding that pulling catch levers with commercial and recreational fishers isn’t fixing the problem of declining stocks, because up to 70% of their habitats have been lost and aren’t being restored.”

 

“Gaining true nature positive progress for fish can only be solved when people come together – and get to work. We know that Queenslanders love the ocean, and their rivers and creeks, and are very connected to them. We need government support to empower Queenslanders with the tools and opportunities to pitch in and improve the waterways, and fishing, they love.”

 

OzFish will be reaching out to Mr Powell and Mr Perrett to arrange a time to discuss the key priorities facing waterways, native fish and fishing in Queensland, and their fixes.

 

The Restoration Decade Alliance (RDA), of which OzFish is a member, recently released a position statement warning that Australia has only six years left to restore ecosystems and prevent biodiversity collapse and catastrophic climate change.

About us:

 

About OzFish 

OzFish is a not-for-profit member organisation that partners with fishers and the broader community to invest time and money into the protection and restoration of waterways, counteracting decades of degradation with projects in habitat restoration, re-snagging, riverbank planting, clean-ups, fishways, shellfish reefs and educational and community capacity building programs. www.ozfish.org.au, to learn more, or become a member.

 

About Reflections Holidays

The largest holiday park group in New South Wales and the only one that is a certified social enterprise, Reflections Holidays is a Crown Land manager that operates 40 holiday parks, camping grounds and unique accommodation in coastal and inland NSW. Reflections reinvests profits back into its parks and 45 nature reserves spanning almost 25,000 acres across the State, which it cares for on behalf of NSW communities.

Contact details:

To learn more, or arrange an interview with OzFish CEO Cassie Price, email media@ozfish.org.au or call +61 490 783 417.