Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Hansard source

Thanks, Senator Colbeck. Senator Colbeck would remember from his time as a minister that ministers don't provide guarantees of the sort that he is requiring. I can remember many occasions when we attempted to get guarantees from ministers, including Senator Colbeck, on various situations, and those guarantees weren't made and, of course, can't be made. But what I can guarantee is that the Albanese government is a strong supporter of the salmon industry in Tasmania, and its backing that up not just with words but with funding.

Minister Plibersek has announced $2.1 million in Australian government funding to establish a captive breeding program to help the maugean skate—something that the salmon industry requested that we do. We've also, through the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation and the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, partnered with industry in a new initiative worth up to $6 million to stimulate dissolved oxygen levels in Macquarie Harbour. So we are taking action to work with the industry around the environmental issues that have been raised.