Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has written to Tasmania’s salmon farming industry, promising the government will introduce laws to guarantee its future in Macquarie Harbour.
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00:00With an election just months or weeks away, salmon farming posed as a defining issue for Tasmania.
00:10I am absolutely over the moon that we now have a position whereby we will continue to have jobs on Macquarie Harbour,
00:18we will have an environmentally sustainable salmon industry.
00:21The industry's future there had been uncertain, with Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek
00:26considering whether to review the sector's approvals because of its impact on the endangered Morgean skate.
00:33Today, the Prime Minister has written to the salmon industry, promising to introduce legislation
00:39to guarantee salmon farming in Macquarie Harbour can continue.
00:43We've got a commitment from the opposition and the government to review a broken piece of legislation
00:48to end a process that's causing tremendous uncertainty for everyone on the west coast.
00:52On recent trips to Tasmania, the PM has faced criticism from environmentalists
00:58and from those siding with the salmon industry.
01:03A problem that could have plagued Labor's bid to reclaim the seat of Braddon and hold Lyons,
01:09two critical seats in the upcoming election campaign.
01:12And the PM has been dragged kicking and screaming, trying to kill off this political issue for him.
01:17He won't do what he says in that letter, and if he was going to, we'd see the legislation today,
01:22but I guarantee you we won't.
01:23This is an outrageous siding with the profits of foreign industrial salmon farming corporations
01:30over the marine health of Macquarie Harbour.
01:32The PM's letter to the salmon industry doesn't say when the legislation will be introduced,
01:37or how it would work.
01:39Well that's something that the drafters would do, but obviously what it will do is it will legislate
01:44to ensure that jobs remain in Macquarie Harbour.
01:48The issue of salmon farming in Macquarie Harbour has become entwined with the future of the Morgean skate,
01:53which is endemic to the area.
01:55Minister Plibersek is also determining whether to increase its threatened species status
02:00to critically endangered.
02:02Today's announcement comes as new research prompts cautious optimism
02:06that the skate's population is improving.
02:09Let's celebrate that this is a good sign, but understand that we need to keep going.