Tag: State election

Making fishing the winner in the State election

As you may have noticed, campaigning for the 2025 State Election in March is already heating up, with parties announcing a range of commitments should they win to appeal to the voting public. 

At Recfishwest, we are proudly independent and have no political affiliations. Every four years, the state election presents a valuable opportunity to advocate for better outcomes for WA fishers.  

That’s why we have developed a manifesto – an outline of the key investments and policies to support the fishing way of life we all love. We have presented this manifesto to all political parties in the State election and continue to seek specific and clear commitments that will improve fishing outcomes for all West Australians.

Our manifesto calls for a range of initiatives to improve aquatic environments, build abundant and resilient fish stocks, increase fishing accessibility, reduce red tape and support high-quality fishing in the face of future challenges.

CLICK HERE TO SEE A SNAPSHOT OF RECFISHWEST’S ELECTION MANIFESTO

Some of Recfishwest’s policies and investments we’ve asked for in our manifesto include funding towards building a new jetty every year, implementing a statewide community stewardship program teaching kids how to fish correctly, and a Fisheries Adjustment Scheme aimed at helping fisheries impacted by climate change such as marron fishing.

Casting around for good fishing policies  

We’re calling for policies and investments that recognise fishing’s value and will safeguard its future. We will support good ideas and investment proposals regardless of the party behind them.

It’s encouraging to see that some of our manifesto items have already been reflected in election commitments made by major parties in the past week, including:  

  • Marron habitat and productivity improvement: Last week, WA Labor announced a $3 million commitment to enhance marron habitats at Harvey, Logue Brook, and Wellington.  
  • Fishing licence reform: On the weekend, WA Liberal leader Libby Mettam pledged to replace the current six fishing licences (costing up to $290) with a single, simplified “covers-all” licence costing $40. This policy also committed to ensuring that important programs currently funded using fishing licence revenue, such as FADs, RFIF, and community grant programs, will be protected.  
  • Fishing infrastructure investment: On the weekend, Tourism Minister Rita Saffioti announced WA Labor’s commitment to a $2 million expansion of the fishing platform at Hillarys Boat Harbour and a new $2 million fishing platform at Quinns Rocks.  
  • Albany fishing jetty feasibility study: Yesterday, Fisheries Minister Punch announced WA Labor would invest $200,000 towards developing an all-abilities fishing jetty in Albany. 

A cast of thousands of fishing advocates

You can also support better fishing by asking candidates in your electorate how they will improve your fishing experiences and if they will support Recfishwest’s manifesto.  

We are pleased to see major parties making early commitments to benefit WA fishing in response to what we have called for. We plan to keep you informed of what we hear and will provide an analysis of all fishing-related election pledges, policies and ideas in our February newsletter, including each party’s level of support for our manifesto.  

Our intention is to ensure our members and supporters are up to speed with all registered parties’ election commitments, to help make informed choices at the ballot box on March 8th.  

Help support us in making WA fishing better bu joining the Cast of Thousands as a Recfishwest member by clicking here.