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

Last week, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese flew into Tasmania to launch Labor's new candidate for the seat of Braddon, Senator Urquhart. I don't have a problem with Senator Urquhart leaving the Senate and running for the lower house. In fact, I wish her all the best. What I do have a problem with is the Prime Minister making a commitment of $28 million of taxpayers' money to the salmon industry in Tasmania. Of that money, $22 million is for an oxygenation project. They're going to turn Macquarie Harbour, the last known home of the critically endangered maugean skate, into a giant, aerated fish tank. This harbour on the edge of a World Heritage area, this harbour that is precious to Tasmania, is going to receive taxpayers' funds. Why? The skate is going extinct. We've been told that by scientists. We've been told that the best thing the government can do to stop this skate going extinct—there are believed to be between 40 and 120 adults left in the wild—is to move salmon farms out of Macquarie Harbour.

But here's the rub, senators: at the moment, the federal government has committed $7.2 million to working with the salmon industry for a trial pilot project in Macquarie Harbour, which doesn't finish until October next year—one year away. It's been going for 11 months, so we're halfway through the trial project, and the Prime Minister comes in and commits six times the amount of taxpayer funds to this project when it hasn't even finished. We don't know the results of this scientific project. Even worse, this money is being given to big multinational salmon companies—foreign owned companies who pay no tax—to clean up their own mess, to greenwash the extinction of species. It is simply not good enough. The Greens will fight this, and Tasmanians will vote against this.