11 November 2023
The selling out of regional Tassie jobs to gain inner-city votes and appease agenda-fuelled groups couldn’t be a more obvious backdrop for the Albanese Government posturing to dump the salmon industry.
The Environment Minister’s revisit of an EPBC Act decision made under Labor Government over a decade ago is based on the objections of the Australia Institute and Bob Brown Foundation, as well as the Commonwealth-funded Environmental Defenders Office, who recently received millions from the Albanese Government.
These groups don’t take into account the full picture of the industry’s contribution to the Maugean Skate’s survival and conveniently forget the Skate’s disappearance from Bathurst Harbour which has never housed a salmon pen nor been affected by factors localised to Macquarie Harbour, including the effects of Hydro and mine waste runoff.
West Coast salmon industry workers are not a pawn for the Environment Minister to play with in her pursuit of mainland, inner-city votes.
The Environment Minister needs to consider the whole picture of the Skate’s decline, rather than caving to Greens-dominated organisations when it suits her political agenda.