Philip Heatley MP
National Party Fisheries Spokesman

07 July 2005

Minister runs out of excuses on fisheries report

National Party Fisheries spokesman Phil Heatley says the Fisheries Minister is running out of excuses for holding off on the release of a report into customary fishing rights abuses.

“Labour called for this report in a blaze of publicity during April last year, promising it would be finished in 2004.

“Later, the timeline was extended for submissions in February, with a final decision in April. The latest advice is that Cabinet was supposed to consider the report in June, with a release date this week.

“The Minister is fast running out of week,” says Mr Heatley.

“It has taken more than 15 months for Labour to produce a single report. After sounding so determined to tidy up the rules around customary fishing rights, is Labour now trying to bury this controversial issue?”

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