30 November 2023
In officially making a decision to begin consultation on an EPBC Act decision made under the Gillard Government over a decade ago to allow salmon farming in Macquarie Harbour, Tanya Plibersek has caved to three activist organisations: the Bob Brown Foundation, Australia Institute, and Albanese Government-funded Environmental Defenders Office. This is rather than objectively listening to the science and industry on the matter.
This decision is the next step for the Environment Minister to officially reconsider the salmon industry’s approval. This could potentially lead to an end to the industry’s operations, meaning that the lives and livelihoods of 400 West Coast workers, and the families and businesses that rely on this industry, would be upended.
West Coast jobs aren’t a tap that Tanya Plibersek can turn off and on again.
This industry relies on certainty but is currently serving as collateral damage to the conscience of an inner-city focussed Minister who would rather listen to Greens-aligned groups than the people that would be directly and severely affected by the decision.
It will leave the West Coast of Tasmania on the road to economic ruin, which is exactly what activist groups like the Bob Brown Foundation and Australia Institute don’t consider when they engage in this green lawfare.
The only voices to which the Federal Government seems to be listening are those of Bob Brown and other radical environmental activists.
While this may be convenient from an inner Sydney vote grab, it is devastating for Tasmanian families and everyone that relies on this industry for their livelihoods.