Fisheries Minister Gordon Hill says the Opposition has yet to answer his challenge about their fisheries policy costings.
Mr Hill said yesterday the State's fishing industry had been duped by the Opposition.
He said the proof lay in the fact that a blank had been left against the costing of their fisheries policy, revealing that:
· no new funds were destined for the industry;
· no new fisheries officers should be expected and
· the Opposition's policies were a copy of current Government initiatives.
"The Opposition is strangely quiet about this omission," Mr Hill said.
"Not only has a question mark been put against their costings for the number of police they have pledged, but there is no new money earmarked for the fisheries officers they have promised and the support they claim they will give to the fishing industry.
"This can only mean two things: that the Opposition never intended to provide any new fisheries officers or that it did not want to cost the promise because it would blow out their carefully constructed sums."
In comparison, the State Government's fisheries policy provides more than $1 million dollars for extra fisheries officers and includes incentives for innovative industries, measures to promote value-adding, and initiatives for effective management of fisheries.
Mr Hill said the costing was a clear indication of what the fishing industry would face under a Liberal Government.
"Froth and bubble rhetoric, many promises - but no new funds," he said.
"Their fisheries policy is a blatant copy of existing Government practices and they have finally revealed that no new money will be put into the industry."
