❓ Mrs Warr questions the Premier on the demersal fishing ban, specifically regarding the release of the peer review and potential reconsideration. The Premier defends the ban as necessary for future fish stocks, citing scientific evidence and compensation for affected fishers.

Demersal fishing ban69.Mrs Kirrilee Warrto thePremier:I refer to the government's Prohibition on Commercial Fishing (Pilbara Fish Trawl) Order 2025 and Prohibition on Fishing for Demersal Scalefish Order 2025, tabled on 17 February this year, and the disallowance motion on notice.(1) Why has the Premier's government refused to release the peer review of the science underpinning these decisions?(2) Will the Premier reconsider his minister's so-called captain's call to shut down fishing?(3) Will the Premier support the disallowance motion and stand with Western Australian fishers?

Mr Roger Cook replied:(1)–(3) I stand for the future generations of Western Australia.Several members interjected.The Speaker:Members!Mr Roger Cook:I stand for their opportunity to have the same opportunities that this generation had to catch our iconic demersal fish species. The government was confronted with a tough decision: Do we save the fish stocks for future generations or do we allow the current deterioration of fish stock numbers to continue? We saw the science.Several members interjected.The Speaker:Members!Mr Roger Cook:The member who asked the question has seen the science.Mrs Kirrilee Warrinterjected.The Speaker:Member for Geraldton.Mr Roger Cook:She is now trying to use some sort of mealy-mouthed technical issue—Mrs Kirrilee Warrinterjected.The Speaker:Member for Geraldton!Mr Roger Cook:—to try to wriggle out from under the science, which she knows sits over the top of this important issue. It is informed by the science. The Western Australian Fishing Industry Council made it quite clear to us that any reduction of commercial fisheries take in the west coast region would create a situation where those fishing licences were no longer viable. We were left with no choice. Do we act or do we simply do nothing? Do we simply allow commercial fishers and recreational fishers to let rip or do we act on behalf of future fishers? We suspended both recreational and commercial fishing in the west coast zone because that is what the science says is required.Several members interjected.The Speaker:Member for Geraldton! Member for Central Wheatbelt! Please stop interjecting, both of you.Mr Roger Cook:During this period of suspension of all fishing for demersal fish in the west coast region—Mr Lachlan Hunterinterjected.The Speaker:Member for Central Wheatbelt, I am calling you for the second time.Mr Roger Cook:—we will allow two seasons of spawning to take place so that we can start to see a new generation of demersal fish come through and, in the spring of 2027, when we allow recreational fishers to once again take fish in the west coast zone, we will be able to see a continuation of what we have all taken for granted over many years but what we cannot take for granted if we do nothing.Mrs Kirrilee Warr:What about the Pilbara trawlers?The Speaker:Member for Geraldton, I am calling you for the first time.Mr Roger Cook:The member for Geraldton raised the issue of the Pilbara trawlers. There is not a recreational fisher in the Pilbara who does not want us to remove the trawling practices in the Pilbara. It does not mean that there is no commercial fishing in the Pilbara; it simply means that the trawling—Mrs Kirrilee Warrinterjected.The Speaker:Member for Geraldton!Mr Roger Cook:—and the death of the bycatch—the seals, dolphins and turtles—as a result of the trawling will no longer take place.We heard from the Western Australian Fishing Industry Council and commercial fishers that the commercial licences on the west coast zone were at breaking point and that any reduction would simply make them not viable. We could have said, "We're going to halve your fish take", but then they would have gone out of business, or we could have done the right thing and said, "We will enter into a process to compulsorily acquire your commercial fishing licences so that we can properly compensate you." As part of that longer term compensation process, we have provided ex gratia payments to get cash into their pockets now. We know that this is a tough decision, but it is one that we have to take on behalf of today's fishers, their children and their grandchildren.We could take some sort of populist approach to ignore the science, which the member for Geraldton has seen and been briefed on. She knows what it says, but she has ignored that.Several members interjected.The Speaker:Members!Mr Roger Cook:The member for Geraldton knows what the science is. She is now trying to cover her eyes and ears and close her mouth so that members opposite can undertake this populist project to try to garner a few votes from some people who are unhappy. We get that they are unhappy.Several members interjected.The Speaker:Members! Members of the opposition! Member for Geraldton, you still have a supplementary at this stage; you do not want to make the same mistake as you did last week. Members of the government, you are not helping either. Thank you, Premier, if you could wrap up your comments.Mr Roger Cook:This is not a popularity contest; this is about doing the right thing for today's fishers, their children and their grandchildren and, ultimately, for the future of our commercial fishing industry. Good governments take the tough decisions when they are needed, and that is what we have done. Demersal fishing ban