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Mr BARTLETT (Port Stephens) [6.12 p.m.]: On 2 June 2000 I raised the matter of the Royal Volunteer Coastal Patrol. I pleaded for Federal fuel excise relief to apply to volunteer organisations such as New South Wales coastal patrols. The patrols operate 28 divisions along the New South Wales coastline from Eden to Cape Byron. Of those divisional bases, 16 operate on a 24-hour basis. Port Stephens has a 24-hour volunteer coastal patrol. From October to June last year the rescue boats were used 67 times in providing assistance to 104 vessels and 236 people. To effect those rescues 1,809 litres of petrol and 7,980 litres of diesel were used, at a cost of more than $9,000. A fishing boat that needs to be rescued can get a fuel rebate. However, the organisation making the rescue, the volunteer coastal patrol, has to sell raffle tickets and doilies and run a store at the markets to raise the funds to purchase the fuel.
Subsequent to my speech of 2 June I wrote to the Prime Minister and the Treasurer pointing out that these people needed help: they were doing an amazingly good job but they needed help with fuel costs. I also wrote to the other 27 divisions along the coastline asking them to raise the matter with their local Federal member as I thought we had a good case to help the local volunteers. I never received a reply. I am certainly not claiming sole success as a lowly backbencher. But through the mail to the Royal Volunteer Coastal Patrol in Port Stephens late last year came a fuel rebate form. No letter came with the rebate form. The patrol sent the completed form off. The form was returned with a note stating that it had not been filled in correctly. The form was filled in again and over the last three months the patrol received three cheques refunding about a third of the fuel costs. If the yearly cost of fuel is $9,000 the fuel rebate accounts for roughly $3,000. That is money that the coastal patrol does not have to find through the selling of raffle tickets and doilies.
But the message did not seem to go anywhere else. No-one else seemed to get to know about it. There are volunteers all around New South Wales and the rest of the coastline of Australia. It seems that there has been a major policy change. The coastal patrols are wonderful organisations. I am not claiming success. I do not know that anything I did resulted in the change. No-one said, "Well done, John. You have achieved a major change in this area." It seems that there has been a policy change from the Federal Government. In my view it was handled far less than graciously by the Federal Government. It seems that no other coastal patrol is getting to know except through me. The return to the volunteer coastal patrols seems to be leaking out by osmosis. It seems that the volunteer coastal patrols have been very shabbily treated. Parliamentary democracy has been in action. The local member made a speech and action was taken. We won a decision on the fuel rebate for Port Stephens but other coastal patrols were not informed. I am hoping that my private member's speech this evening will gain publicity and the other coastal patrols will know that because of the fuel rebate they will not need to sell as many doilies and raffle tickets.
Mr MARKHAM (Wollongong—Parliamentary Secretary) [6.17 p.m.]: The honourable member for Port Stephens has raised a very important issue. This is the International Year of Volunteers. Probably one of the more hard-working volunteer organisations is the Royal Volunteer Coastal Patrol. The honourable member pointed out that they work around the entire Australian coast. He should be congratulated on gaining a fuel rebate for the patrol in his area. But it seems that the Federal Government has not notified every other coastal patrol in Australia that it is entitled to a fuel rebate to assist it in ensuring that the dollars it raises go as far as possible. As the honourable member mentioned, volunteer coastal patrols raise their funds through such things as chook raffles. The Federal Government should act to ensure that every volunteer coastal patrol in Australia is granted a fuel rebate in line with that outlined by the honourable member for Port Stephens. I congratulate him on raising the matter.