As per the information the joint standing committee told that fees should only cover the cost of regulating a particular activity rather than raise money for other purposes. The committee also said it was concerned that part of the commercial licence fishing fee was paid into a development fund to improve the management of fishing generally.
Parliament should approve any new form of taxation. Fisheries Minister Norman Moore in his statement said while he didn’t totally agree with the finding he accepted the ruling and had agreed not to charge that part of the fee, which has been in place for 15 years. This would not affect Government funds as Moore planned to introduce a new fee structure at the beginning of the next financial year.
Moore told that the committee hadn’t recommended the disallowance of any fees that had been collected so far so there was no loss to the Government. He added that part of the fee collected went to fund the WA Fishing Industry Council.
