Gavin Pearce (Braddon, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Health, Aged Care and Indigenous Health Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Albanese government's list of broken promises to the electorate of Braddon and the great state of Tasmania is long, but it's getting longer. The local Labor representative says she is 'building a better Braddon'. But nothing is being built thanks to this government. Business owners are telling me loud and clear that things are pretty bleak. Labor has created a cost-of-living crisis—and a cost-of-doing-business crisis, which often isn't talked about. No industry in Braddon is safe from its economic wrecking ball, and its mantra appears to be 'delay, delay, delay'—to kick things down the road.

When it comes to approvals through the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, the EPBC Act: on Tasmania's West Coast, the mineral epicentre of Tasmania, Minister Plibersek refuses to provide certainty for salmon farming in Macquarie Harbour. The minister's inaction is impacting the entire community right across the West Coast and threatening the state's salmon industry. There's no scientific evidence that demonstrates the removing of aquaculture from Macquarie Harbour—which is seven times the size of Sydney Harbour—will ensure the future of the maugean skate. It's dishonest to lay the blame at the feet of the salmon industry, and it's time for this unnecessary EPBC process to end.

Go just an hour up the road to the Rosebery MMG mine; they continue to wait for Minister Plibersek to make a decision on their critical tailings dam facility at South Marionoak as an alternative storage option for their fast-reaching capacity. Years of delay and a lack of leadership are risking the livelihoods of 550 workers. That's 550 families. Just above that is Robbins Island, where wind farm proponents are waiting for, guess what, an EPBC approval. They're kicking it down the road. This would be a massive boost for renewable energy in the great state. It will provide clean energy for tens of thousands of homes, create hundreds of jobs and drive billions of dollars of economic development in our region. The project has undergone some of the most rigorous approvals in the world. It's time to get it done. Let these industries know how they can move forward.

Located within the recently announced North West Renewable Energy Zone, the project is situated perfectly to feed into the proposed Marinus Link and the North West Transmission Developments upgrade. The Albanese government should be giving this priority. The only thing you can trust about this government is that they will continue to stifle Braddon's economic prosperity. I call on the respective ministers to look after and to prosecute the expedience of these approvals for these valuable industries in the great state of Tasmania.