WA fishing ban: Nats’ attempt to overturn demersal fishing ban doomed to fail in ParliamentOliver LaneThe West AustralianWed, 25 February 2026 6:24PMEmail Oliver Lane
A move to overturn the Cook Government’s sweeping ban on demersal fishing in much of the State is set to fall short, with the Opposition unlikely to overcome Labor’s majority.
A disallowance motion aimed at overturning the ban which bars recreational and commercial fishers from catching demersal fish between Augusta and Kalbarri was brought to Parliament on Wednesday by Geraldton MP Kirrilee Warr.
Ms Warr said years of mismanagement had got the State to this point.
“Those (fishing) rules have been made over the last 10 years by Fisheries Ministers, that’s how we got to here and they have not been consistent, they have never been consistent,” she said.
“The majority of the fishers in the waters, whether that’s commercial or recreational, have been playing by the rules and then all of a sudden we (the Government) are doing a swifty and moving away from it.
“We’re saying simply, ‘woah, woah, woah, everything’s everything’s collapsing, everything’s collapsing’.
“At what point did the science indicate this, because I’m pretty sure it just didn’t happen overnight.”
While the motion looked doomed to fail thanks to Labor’s commanding majority it is still likely to resonate with large swathes of the regional community.
Earlier in the day, Premier Roger Cook went on the offensive, accusing Ms Warr of being anti-fishing and anti-environment for what he said was ignoring the science.
“We could take some sort of populist approach to ignore the science which the member for Geraldton has seen, has been briefed on, and she knows what it says, she’s ignored that,” he said.
“The member for Geraldton knows what the science is, she’s now trying to cover her eyes, cover her ears, close her mouth, so that they can undertake this populous project to try to gather a few votes out of some people who are unhappy.”
The Liberals also offered their support for he motion despite Opposition Leader Basil Zempilas acknowledging the numbers weren’t in their favour.
“We are in the 10th year of this WA Labor Government, they have had time to manage the fish supply in Western Australia far better than this draconian, drastic sledge hammer ban that has wiped so many people’s livelihoods and their moral and their family life” he said.
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