| option4
Response to Cabinet Paper.
April 2002
Dear [ subscriber ]
This month we focus on the Cabinet Paper that concludes the "Soundings"
Public Consultation phase of the rights debate. This Cabinet Paper
is the best advice available from the Ministry of Fisheries to their
Minister, Pete Hodgson, who then signs off and delivers to his Cabinet
colleagues in November last year. He in turn asks them (the Cabinet
Committee) to sign off on the recommendations contained within the
Paper. This, they have done. This sets the process up for its next
phase.
To say option4 are disappointed with the Cabinet Paper is a real
understatement. We have written to the Minister asking to meet with
him. Hopefully he will agree to do so.
We believe the Cabinet Paper is full of inaccuracies, omissions
and misleading information. You may read the entire Cabinet paper,
complete with the option4
comment in blue italics, on the site.
This is important. As we reject the Cabinet Paper, so too we reject
the process that is driven by the decisions of Cabinet. The Cabinet
can only be expected to base their decisions upon what is put in
front of them. In this instance the information and the advice that
has lead to that information being tendered cannot be left unchallenged.
Keep your fingers crossed for a positive response from the Minister.
The Ministerial Consultative Group (MCG) process last year.
The Minister initiated this in May 2001. The objective was to seek
"sounding board" type feedback from representatives of
recreational fishing groups on draft Ministry Policy Proposals.
This was achieved.
Whilst the various recreational participants contributed fully,
there was little or no feedback given them on their contribution
at the MCG, or afterwards, whilst the Cabinet Paper was being finalised.
The MCG was conducted under Chatham House rules. What was said was
not minuted. What was written hasn't been made available to the
public to date.
option4 has used the Official Information Act to seek all background
papers to the Cabinet Paper. This is where we have sourced the option4
"sounding board" feedback to the Draft Ministry Policy
proposals, that has until now not been available for you, the public..
Again, you will find the option4 feedback to the Minister in blue
italics immediately following the section of the Ministry Policy
Paper that the comment refers to. Please click on this link to read,
for the first time, much of what was covered at the MCG
meetings.
Following our input, the Ministry then wrote to the Minister to
advise him on their opinion of what the MCG had to say about their
draft Policy Papers. Now, click
here to read what the Ministry of Fisheries had to say to the
Minister. You make up your mind about what sort of advice this Minister
is getting. We were unaware of the existence of this document until
after Christmas when it surfaced in the Official Information package.
Are you getting the picture. But wait, there's more. However you
will have to wait for next months Update to read it.
Sorry if this months fodder has been a little on the dry side -
it's that sort of game - long and tedious.
Recent articles
In the April edition of Fishing News there is an excellent contribution
from Tony Orman. Please click
here for his comment » »
Please consider subscribing to New Zealand Fishing News. They have
maintained an excellent profile of this debate to date.
To subscribe, please phone 0800 113 441.
We have on site a copy of the Tuna
NZ submission to the Introduction of new species to the QMS.
Some very interesting fishing industry observations regards the
Quota Management System. Worth a read for the super keen.
Please keep up to date with what is going on. There is more to come.
Keep your family and friends up to speed. option4 is not willing
to let secrets and half truth's cloud the real issue of our right
to fish.
Regards from the team at option4
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