Tuesday’s budget confirmed measures previously announced in the government’s response to the Senate inquiry into contamination from the Williamtown RAAF Base.

It includes a $25,000 payment to affected businesses if the state government decides to extend a fishing ban on Fullerton Cove and Upper Tilligerry Creek beyond the end of June.

The funding has been labelled a “bloody insult” by fishers, and out-going Paterson MP Bob Baldwin admitted it was “not enough”.

And now the state government has added to that criticism, with Primary Industries Minister Niall Blair telling parliament the payments were “by no means enough”.

Responding to a question in parliament from Labor’s Primary Industries spokesman Mick Veitch about whether the measures would solve the problem for fishers locked out of the Tilligerry River and Fullerton Cove, Mr Blair said “probably not”.

“Am I confident that a bit of money from the Federal Government is going to be the panacea they’re looking for? Probably not,” he said.

“Does it go some way? Yes.

“Should we be in this position? Do we want to be in this position that we’re having to seek funding from the Commonwealth Government to [help] these hardworking honest people going to work? I wish we weren’t in that position.”

The comments reveal the divide that has opened up between the state and federal Liberal governments on the issue.

The Commonwealth, through the Department of Defence, has resisted the Environmental Protection Authority on the contamination issue, including opposing the decision to tell the public. 

Mr Blair insisted in a subsequent answer that one of the state government’s priorities was ensuring that “as the polluter, the Department of Defence  pays for the impacts to people and their livelihoods, the cleanup, and the cost to the NSW government in managing the contamination”.

“If we get to the point where we think they need more money or more financial support from the Commonwealth Government we will continue to advocate for that,” he said.

He acknowledged the toll the fishing bans had had on commercial fishers in the Hunter, saying he had received letters from the children of trawlers.

“I want these people to be able to get up and have some purpose in their life,” he said.

“Their job as a commercial fisher was not something they were doing to be millionaires, quite often it’s something they just love doing 

“The fact they were able to earn a dollar doing something they love, when that’s taken away from you it leaves a large gap in your family.

“It leaves a large gap in the pride of those people.”