Peter Whish-Wilson (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for the Environment and Water, Senator McAllister. Minister, the federal government's own Threatened Species Scientific Committee recently estimated that there are just 40 to 120 maugean skate left on this planet, provided preliminary advice that the skate be uplifted to 'critically endangered', and stated very clearly that salmon production in the skate's last known home, Macquarie Harbour, in Tasmania, poses a catastrophic risk to the survival of the skate. Minister, does your government accept the findings made by the committee that industrial salmon farming is the single biggest threat to the survival of the maugean skate in its natural habitat?