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

Labor's committed $7½ million to this trial that's initially looking at whether pumping oxygen into Macquarie Harbour, which is the last known home of the maugean skate, a critically endangered species, of which, it is estimated, there are between 40 and 100 adults left in the wild—they've committed this money to, firstly, see if putting oxygen into the harbour does harm.

I asked the FRDC, who was the federal body who funded this, for a copy of the joint venture details of the project. They weren't able to provide that to me, but they did provide the timeline for the expenditure and the milestones for Macquarie Harbour and what they were trying to achieve. Here's the rub. Here's the really important part. The project is a scientific study, a pilot project, to test whether oxygen being pumped into Macquarie Harbour will do harm or whether it will help, and it doesn't finish until 31 October next year. The $7½ million, the timetable and the milestones culminate in a final report written by scientists, funded by the taxpayer.

But here you have the Australian Labor Party swinging into Tasmania and offering $28 million to some of the most profitable companies that operate in Australia—multinationals, foreign owned, that pay no tax. They gave them $28 million to continue the oxygenation project and to expand it. And they haven't got their final report; it's 12 months away. Why is the Labor Party committing taxpayer funds to a scientific project that's a year away from reporting? That's the question, and I know the answer to that. It's because they want to get Senator Urquhart elected in Braddon. Two hours after the Prime Minister committed $28 million, they launched Senator Urquhart's run for the lower house in Braddon. She quite openly said today that this money for the salmon industry is why you need to vote for Labor. It couldn't be a clearer example of institutional corruption, cronyism and state capture, where a government is running this program for the salmon industry, giving them taxpayer funds and trying to get a candidate elected. It really is disgusting.

To hear Senator Urquhart in here today, saying the things she was saying about Labor being the biggest champion for the salmon industry—what about the maugean skate, a creature about to go critically extinct, according to all the best science? Guess what we're going to do? We're going to turn Macquarie Harbour, the last known home of the skate on the edge of a World Heritage area, into a giant aerated fish tank. We are breeding skates and I've been to see the breeding program. It has been successful because they are giving the skates nutrients and a diet they don't get in the wild. We've got no idea if we can reintroduce them in the wild—how could you if their last known home is polluted? That bit hasn't been solved yet, so we're talking about the extinction of a species here. It's all about politics—this is extinction politics.

To Senator Duniam—through you, Chair—the Greens would have been very happy to have supported a Senate inquiry looking at this issue but, as you were told, we couldn't support these terms of reference. It is clearly a political stunt where you guys are trying to see who has the biggest muscles in supporting the salmon industry. Maybe I'm missing something after the years in politics, but I don't get the politics of this for either side. There's not a large industry on the west coast of Tasmania. Most Tasmanians don't support the salmon industry. There are a lot of voters in Braddon that support, for example, people like Craig Garland, who don't support the salmon industry. Right around the state, Tasmanians are worried—there's about to be a massive rally of all sorts of people from all walks of life. By the way, if anyone wants to attend, at Clifton Beach at 10 o'clock on Sunday morning there's a massive rally against salmon farming at the mouth of the Derwent. What is the politics of this? Why are you giving $28 billion of taxpayer money to the salmon industry? They don't need it. They're the ones polluting Macquarie Harbour, pushing a species to extinction. Why don't they pay for their bloody mess? Why does the Australian taxpayer have to do this? Sorry, I forgot—so you can get a candidate elected in Braddon. That's it. This is one of the worst cases. You can call it pork-barrelling, you can call it corruption—I don't care what you call it but it is wrong. It is morally repugnant that you could so brazenly launch money for a project that's 12 months away from even reporting whether it works. What about the science?

What about the other thing we haven't talked about today? I really do feel sorry for Minister Plibersek on many levels. She's got a court case before her right now and a proposition from the Threatened Species Scientific Committee to upgrade the skate from 'endangered' to 'critically endangered'. From all the data that they have provided—and these are some of the best experts in the world, and they say there are 40-120 adults left in the wild, and salmon is a 'catastrophic risk', to use their language, to the future of the skate. Minister Plibersek is over here hoping to make an independent decision on upgrading the skate to 'critically endangered' or whether what has happened in Macquarie Harbour is a controlled action under federal law and needs to be re-assessed, while Mr Albanese and Senator Urquhart have completely ridden over the top of Minister Plibersek and her department by saying, 'Here's $28 million; this is a live election issue.' How can she possibly make a decision based on science that might say, 'You can't farm salmon in Macquarie Harbour anymore because this species will go extinct'? How can she do that when you've just committed $28 million? Honestly, it is appalling. To see everyone laughing about it in here makes my blood boil. We are talking about the extinction of a species. How many jobs is the extinction of a species worth to you senators? How much money is it worth? I don't have an answer to that question, and it is turning out to be the great moral question of our time. But according to the Labor Party it's $28 million and the seat of Braddon—seriously! I know there are good people in the Labor Party that care about nature and the environment, and it's possible there are some in the chamber right now. You really need to look at this and scrutinise this expenditure by the Prime Minister a few weeks ago. We certainly will be. It is next level.

Senator Duniam, if you want to get a Senate inquiry up into this decision, come and talk to us. Keep your terms of reference neutral, let's go down to Tasmania, let's spend time with the salmon industry, let's spend time with the environment groups, let's go to Macquarie Harbour, let's look at this properly and let's do our job as a Senate and look at this filthy $28 million election commitment by the Albanese government to prop up foreign owned multinationals that don't pay any tax. How on earth can the Liberal Party support a government giving money to these foreign owned multinationals that are pushing a species to the brink of extinction, that are undermining the scientists and the science that's already been put out and that are spending their money—no doubt donating to political parties. Who knows where it ends? I would love to scrutinise that and do my job as a senator with the full powers of the Senate. I ask you, Senator Duniam—through you, Acting Deputy President O'Neill—bring back a new terms of reference and keep it neutral.