Thirteen year old girl’s heartfelt plea in front of NSW Parliament House to save NSW fishing industry

A thirteen year old girl has fronted a packed room in NSW Parliament House to urge the government to rethink commercial fishing reforms which she said were destroying her family’s livelihood. Maddison Blanch spoke before a meeting of fishing professionals, industry leaders and politicians on Wednesday, although no one from the Liberal or National parties attended. She told the crowd her third-generation fisher father, Phillip Blanch, had been hit hard by a scheme forcing him to buy back his right to work. “My father, like the majority of fishers in NSW, goes to work rain, hail or shine,” she said. “My dad goes to work and provides Australia with fresh Aussie seafood and brings an income home for his family just like every other Aussie dad. “My dad loves what he does but, because of reforms, my dad needs to buy more shares to continue to work as he does now, for 2017. “So basically he needs to buy back his job, like most fishers.” Ms Blanch said her father could not buy shares because no one was selling them, and he should not have to take out a loan to be able to afford to do his own job. Read the story here 09:01

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