24 March 2025
The Coalition has today been briefed on the Government’s salmon legislation that seeks to nullify Tanya Plibersek’s disastrous review of the industry’s future at Macquarie Harbour that has been underway for 15 months.
Shadow Environment Jonno Duniam says an end to Minister Plibersek’s review is long overdue, and that the inability of Labor to protect Tasmania’s interests has necessitated the introduction of these laws.
“The Coalition has said, from the beginning, that Labor’s review was unnecessary and that it would severely affect the industry and its workers.”
“The Prime Minister cannot suddenly claim that he is saving Tasmanian jobs with this new Bill when it was his own Government that gave in to activists by reviewing a 2012 Labor Government EPBC decision in the first place.”
“The Coalition formally also wrote to the Prime Minister and government ministers on five separate occasions seeking a briefing on this legislation, yet they have waited until the day before it is introduced to do this,” Senator Duniam said.
“The Coalition have every intention of protecting salmon jobs in Tasmania, but the Government have made this very difficult given the short amount of time given to analyse the Bill and its potential consequences.”
This is the latest in a series of interventions that has seen the internal feud between the Prime Minister and Environment Minister flare up, following Labor’s botched Nature Positive negotiations.
Senator Duniam says that this working relationship is not good for Tasmania or the country, “It is clear that Tanya Plibersek’s inability to make the right decision for Tasmanians and the environment has led the Prime Minister to take the drastic step to circumvent his own Minister.”