4 October 2024

The Albanese Government’s contempt for Tasmania’s salmon industry has plunged to an astounding new low with news that it has now approved Chilean salmon imports for entry into the Australian market.

The decision to green-light imports from a country with a long catalogue of environmental and human rights problems in its salmon industry is all the more galling given that it comes at the very same time as Labor’s Environment Minister, Tanya Plibersek, has handicapped salmon farming in Tasmania’s Macquarie Harbour with an indefinite review into its environmental credentials.

Shadow Environment, Fisheries and Forestry Minister Jonno Duniam is shocked at the disrespect shown to our salmon industry: “This decision was made by Tasmania’s Federal Agriculture Minister Julie Collins’ own department – and is an insult to Tasmania and our salmon industry workers.”

“Our salmon industry abides by the highest environmental standards and goes out of its way to invest in research and regulate its activities to ensure its sustainability and to maintain its social licence. The Chilean salmon industry on the other hand has some of the worst compliance and instances of environmental harm one could think of. Is it right for Australia to import Chilean salmon when our environmental standards are so different to one another?”

“We absolutely support free trade, but this has to be done on equal terms. We can’t disadvantage ourselves through having high environmental standards and worker rights while allowing salmon into our market from a country with arguably some of the lowest environmental standards and an abysmal record of worker rights within their own salmon industry.”

“Federal Labor bowed to activists by instigating a review into salmon farming at Macquarie Harbour which could see this industry shut down on the West Coast. If that happens, they undoubtedly won’t stop until salmon farming throughout our state is finished. The outcome would be that we would ultimately be consuming salmon from countries that have worse standards than Australia: a horrible outcome for our workers, our economy and the global environment.”

“This decision has been quietly lodged on a Chilean Government website with no mention from Federal Agriculture and Fisheries Minister Julie Collins. This issue can’t be swept under the carpet. The Minister needs to front up and explain why allowing Chilean salmon into Australia, with the baggage of an awful history of environmental harm and worker abuse, is acceptable when our own industry is under threat from her Government and activists who want it shut down because of ideology.”