Federal exemption claims restarts war of words over salmon

Claims the salmon industry could be exempted from federal environment laws to continue operating in Macquarie Harbour have reignited debate over aquaculture in the area.

Tassal salmon pens, in Macquarie Harbour, Strahan, West Coast of Tasmania Picture: MATHEW FARRELL

Claims the salmon industry could be exempted from federal environment laws on national interest grounds to continue operating in Macquarie Harbour have reignited debate over

aquaculture in the area.

Industry operations in Macquarie Harbour are under pressure amid concerns over the critically endangered Maugean skate, found only in the harbour and believed to be fewer than 150 in number.

Federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek has been considering a request from environment groups for a review of whether the salmon industry has the necessary approvals to operate in Macquarie Harbour for the last 12 months.

Minister for the Environment and Water of Australia, Tanya Plibersek. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

A decision is not expected until after the federal election.

The electorate of Braddon, which includes Macquarie Harbour, will be keenly contested by the major parties playing the need to protect jobs against the need to protect the natural environment.

A spokeswoman for Minister Plibersek said no application for an exemption had been received from the industry.

“The minister will listen to the science and follow the law as she is required to do,” the spokeswoman said.

Salmon Tasmania CEO Luke Martin said no exemption was being sought.

“An exemption is only in the event she makes a decision. To the best of our knowledge a decision hasn’t been made,” he said.

“Our understanding is that the exemption was a potential scenario that was canvased, not something to be taken seriously.”
Tasmanian Labor leader Dean Winter said he wanted a decision sooner to bring certainty to the industry.

“The focus is squarely on Tanya Plibersek. She needs to sort this out. She needs to make a decision, I can’t be clearer, Minister Plibersek needs to make a decision,” he said.

“The workers on the West Coast don’t care how it’s fixed, they just want it fixed.”

Liberal Senator Jonno Duniam speaks to the media on Parliament Lawns in Hobart on Friday, December 6, 2024.

Liberals Senator Jonno Duniam said a Liberal government would sort the mess out.

“The idea that our Prime Minister is talking to industry about some sort of carve out or work around so that it doesn’t have to comply with the law, to my mind, is absolutely a blow to this government’s credibility when they say they’re the friend of the worker,” he said.

“So a national interest exemption is a cynical move, a political move, this government just needs to make a decision.

“It’s been a year now, more than a year.

“We’re coming up to our second Christmas where you have salmon workers wondering what on earth they’re going to be doing for the year to come, we’ve got a multi billion dollar industry that supports so many jobs in our state.

“This government needs to make a decision now before the election, so that we’re not left with further uncertainty moving forward.”

The Bob Brown Foundation said the prime minister should not cave in to “big foreign corporations polluting Tasmania’s Macquarie Harbour”.

“The Maugean Skate has been on Earth for millions of years – it is found nowhere else in the world,” Antarctic and Marine Campaigner Alistair Allan said.

“The prime minister is offering up this appalling exemption because the iron-clad science advice is that fish farms are causing the Maugean Skate to go extinct.

“He knows full well that under the law, polluting fish farming must be removed. The foreign multinationals running this environmentally destructive industry should not be directing national environmental policy.

“Labor promised no new extinctions on their watch.”

Greens Senator Nick McKim speaks to the media on Parliament Lawns in Hobart on Friday, December 6, 2024.

Greens Senator Nick McKim urged the federal government not to exempt the salmon industry form national environment laws.

“This would be an outrageous abuse of power, and the Prime Minister needs to immediately rule it out,” he said.

“Let’s be very clear here, protecting multinational corporate profits and driving a Tasmanian fish species into extinction is most emphatically not in the national interest.”

South Arm community group, Friends of the Bays will hold a mass paddle-out to protest the plans by salmon producer Petuna to install up to 50 large open-net pens in the north of Storm Bay.

Originally published as Federal exemption claims restarts war of words over salmon