THE tinny lobby is back on the move, targeting 13 coastal marginal seats affected by Labor's plan to create a network of marine parks.
Nationals and Liberal candidates are working with the Fishing and Lifestyle Party and a network of community action groups to exploit concern over the marine parks' potential to block recreational and commercial fishing rights, The Australian reports.
The battle resembles the 2004 election when Fishing Party preferences delivered the Nationals' Barnaby Joyce to the Senate.
Rallies attracting hundreds of people have been held up and down the coast of Queensland, and a huge "Convoy against Closure" is planned for tomorrow.
The Fishing and Lifestyle Party is fielding two Senate candidates in Queensland.
The Howard government created marine parks off Victoria and Tasmania, and Environment Minister Peter Garrett is now extending this model around the country. But Mr Garrett is accused of poor consultation and refusing to consider compensation.
A key speaker tomorrow will be Nationals senator Ron Boswell, who is credited with having helped secure $220 million in compensation for fishermen affected by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.
Rainbow Beach charter operator Tony Stewart, one of the organisers of the rally, said Labor's plan was unfair because it did not include compensation to businesses affected by closures.
Mr Garrett is under attack in his own electorate of Kingsford-Smith in Sydney's southeast, which has hundreds of fishermen who use its extensive coastline extending from Clovelly to La Perouse.
Tony Davis, who runs a bait shop in the electorate, blames Mr Garrett for restrictions on coastal fishing spots in Sydney and along the coast - even though these restrictions are directed by the NSW government.
"We rely on these places for our industry. If they're closed there's nowhere else to go," said Mr Davis, who also runs a charter boat.
Mr Garrett dismisses the Coalition's appeal to the fishing vote as a populist pitch that was inconsistent with past policy.
He said Tony Abbott was, in fact, promising to suspend a process begun by the Howard government, which created a series of marine reserves off the coast of Victoria and Tasmania.
"The trick here from Mr Abbott is that he has suspended a process started under Mr Howard without saying what his alternative process will be if he were to win government."
Read more on The Australian.
