Jonathon Duniam (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Environment, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is a delight to again take to my feet tonight to talk about something very important: the future of the salmon industry in Tasmania. In this cost-of-living crisis, which we see has come about as a result of the home-grown issues we face here in Australia, nothing is more important than having a job. Having a secure, well-paid job, particularly in regional Australia, is centrally important. That is why, today, I did talk about the future of the salmon industry in Tasmania, particularly on the West Coast.

Now, we know that, of course, the Australian Greens political party have an absolute ideological opposition to that industry. It's not based on science; it's not based on fact.

But what is alarming—and it has become apparent to us, over the last little while—is that it is apparently the case, in the view of the government, that there is opposition to this industry as well. The Minister for the Environment and Water has been flagging that she has an intention to review the approvals that enable this industry to operate in Macquarie Harbour. That is very, very concerning.

As I said earlier today, there are 400 hardworking, honest men and women who depend on the salmon industry in Macquarie Harbour to pay their bills, to put food on the table and to be able to keep their kids in school. And that is a good thing. They are contributing to our economy. They have a wonderful, meaningful existence. They're providing for their children. And that's something we should protect.

That is why I am so concerned at the response from colleagues like Senator Polley and the rest of the Tasmanian Labor Senate team when it comes to my questions about this. Senator Polley just spent five minutes telling us what a good Tasmanian senator should be doing in response to this problem. I'm happy to work shoulder to shoulder with Senator Polley and all of her Tasmanian colleagues to stand up for this industry—including when it comes to things like ending funding for the Environmental Defenders Office.

The Environmental Defenders Office is a group funded by the Australian Labor government to take legal action against extractive and primary industries in regional Australia. Ten million dollars this government has budgeted to support this organisation. This is the organisation that is drawing into question the jobs of these 400 men and women in Western Tasmania. So, if we want to work shoulder to shoulder, I look forward to Senator Polley and Senator Urquhart and others from Tasmania joining with me in calling on the Australian Labor government to cease funding this organisation which is jeopardising the jobs of these hardworking men and women.

There were questions around honesty and what it means to stand up for Tasmania. Well, I'll tell you what it means to stand up for Tasmania. It means actually making efforts to ensure that the right outcome is achieved. What correspondence exists between Senator Polley, for example, and the minister for the environment expressing concern about the future of the industry under this review? Is there any? I don't know. I might put in an FOI request or an order for the production of documents to see. I suspect that there will be nothing, and it will prove that, in fact, what we heard before was nothing but words—nothing but a panicked and embarrassed contribution from a member of the Tasmanian Labor Senate team who has done nothing to stand up for this industry and is going to stand idly by while the minister for the environment teams up with the Greens to shut this industry down and take 400 jobs out of regional Tasmania. And we will all be worse off.

They say the letter from the Prime Minister was misinterpreted. Well, if that is the case, I find it passing strange. On 29 November this year, the Prime Minister wrote to the Premier and said, 'Look, I want to talk to you about this review that may be about to occur with regard to the salmon industry under the EPBC Act, and, while I'm doing that, I might point you to these areas of economic and financial support that might be available.' Now, sure, the word 'compensation' may not be in that letter, but I don't know how else to read that—particularly when read together with the letter of 6 November from the minister for the environment to the Premier which talks about there being a 'pause' in the industry. Sure, that may not occur before the review is over, but certainly afterwards. That is another word for a shutdown.

This industry is in the firing line, and it is now for Tasmanian senators of every colour to come together and to make sure that we support this industry. And take it perhaps not from me or my Tasmanian Liberal colleagues, but from the Mayor of the West Coast Council, who described today this letter from the minister and the letter from the Prime Minister as a 'kick in the guts' to his community. This is not a scare campaign. This is not politics. These are people's jobs that we need to stand up for. And the Labor Party is the friend of the worker—or so they tell us. So I call on my Labor colleagues to join with me and the Tasmanian Liberal Senate team and the Jacqui Lambie Network to protect these jobs and rail against this review from Minister Plibersek.

Senate adjourned at 17 : 45