Voters urged to ‘put Liberal and Labor last’ at anti-salmon rally

Thousands have been urged to “put the major parties last” as independent and Greens candidates joined forces at ‘Vote Salmon Out’ rally.

Bob Brown at Vote Salmon Out Rally at parliament Lawns. Picture: Caroline Tan

Thousands have been urged to “put the major parties last” as independent and Greens candidates joined forces at Sunday’s ‘Vote Salmon Out’ rally on Hobart’s Parliament Lawns.

Organisers, the Bob Brown Foundation, said more than 6000 people attended the rally, describing it as “a final united stand against toxic Tasmanian salmon before the federal election”.

Green’s Senator Nick McKim told the crowd there were independent candidates they could “trust” to act on the environment.

“If you want things to change, we are going to collectively have to vote for it,” he said.

“Put one next to a party or a candidate that you know will stand up to toxic salmon farming corporations. Put a two next to someone else who will do the same,

“Put the big salmon parties last, put the Labor and Liberal parties last.”

Greens Senator Nick McKim Vote Salmon Out Rally at parliament Lawns. Picture: Caroline Tan

Independent candidate for Franklin Peter George echoed this call saying people “cannot vote for Liberal or Labor” if they care about Tasmania’s waterways.

Acknowledging the “narrow path to victory” he faces, Mr George promised that if elected he would fight to divert funding that subsidises salmon farming to workers.

“I promise that I will fight hard to make sure that money is diverted to the people who need it, which is the people who are going to go through the transitions, the communities, the workers of the West Coast who know that this industry has to get out of the water.”

Independent candidate Peter George at Vote Salmon Out Rally at parliament Lawns. Picture: Caroline Tan

Tasmanian author Richard Flanagan slammed the major parties saying they have been doing “free publicity” for the salmon industry.

“Normally they’re at a Tassal packing plant in their personalised Tassal high vis and hair nets doing free publicity for tax evading, foreign owned, multi nationals to help them sell diseased fish for human consumption,” he said.

“The salmon workers who have been lied to and told we want to shut down their industry, to them I say this, we’ve always argued for a transition to land based farms creating more jobs and a genuinely sustainable future.”

Richard Flanagan embracing a friend after his speech at Vote Salmon Out Rally at parliament Lawns. Picture: Caroline Tan

Bob Brown criticised Petuna’s proposed fish farm in Storm Bay, saying it poses a major risk to the critically endangered red handfish living in Frederick Henry Bay.

“What Albo wants to do … is to put another brace of polluting fish pens just downstream of where these 60 fish are.”

“The fish always escape, these are 5kg carnivores, and just sitting over there are the little red handfish and their eggs.”

Salmon Tasmania CEO Luke Martin accused rally organisers of running a “scare campaign”.

“Today’s rally only demonstrates the Greens and the Bob Brown Foundation will say, spend and do anything they can to buy Peter George a seat in federal parliament,” he said.

“This baseless claim that the red handfish are now somehow under threat from salmon farming, is just a cynical attempt to rinse and repeat their Maugean skate scare campaign,

“These activists don’t care about facts, or the livelihoods of 5,000 Tasmanian salmon workers and their families across regional Tasmania.”

Originally published as Voters urged to ‘put Liberal and Labor last’ at anti-salmon rally