19 February 2025
If the Prime Minister is serious about saving Tasmanian salmon jobs from his own Environment Minister, he must recall the Parliament before the election to pass legislation that protects those jobs.
If this does not happen before the election is called, the Prime Minister knows that legislation of this nature would not pass the Parliament in a Labor-Greens minority Government. His promise is therefore hollow unless it is dealt with in the Parliament immediately.
Shadow Environment Minister, Jonno Duniam, is calling on the Government to act now: “The Prime Minister says his Bill is ready to go. If that is the case, for the sake of Tasmanian jobs, recall the Parliament so we can put this issue to bed.”
“The Prime Minister can’t leave Tasmanians in the dark with a supposed legislative fix that might not even happen. Labor must give our communities the certainty that they deserve and reverse the wrongs that they inflicted on our state,” Senator Duniam said.
“The Parliament could have dealt with this legislation over the last two weeks in Canberra, let alone the last year. Yet the Prime Minister waited until the Saturday after the sitting fortnight to offer a legislative solution. His offer is disingenuous unless it is dealt with now.”
“The Prime Minister, Labor MPs and candidates cannot seriously say that they stand for salmon jobs when it was their own Party that threw these salmon jobs into uncertainty and when their solution to a problem of their own making is based on an empty promise.”
“The only way to ensure that salmon jobs on Macquarie Harbour and throughout Tasmania are protected is to elect a Dutton Coalition Government who will never be held hostage by the Greens political party.”