‘Rotten, stinking’ dead fish brandished in Senate salmon fight
By Mike Foley
A dead farmed salmon made a splash in Senate question time on Wednesday as Greens environment spokeswoman Sarah Hanson-Young staged a piscatorial stunt to accuse the government of “gutting” environment laws and driving an endangered native species to extinction.
Holding aloft a big, bloody fish, Hansong-Young asked Senator Jenny McAllister, representing the environment minister, if she endorsed Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s decision to create a legal carve-out to shield salmon farms from legal challenges.
The Greens’ environment spokesperson Sarah Hanson-Young holds up a salmon during question time in the Senate.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
“Have you sold out your environmental credentials for a rotten, stinking extinction salmon?” Hanson-Young demanded.
The future of salmon farming in Macquarie Harbour, on Tasmania’s remote west coast, has been uncertain since 2023, when environment groups challenged the government’s approval for the industry due to its impacts on the critically endangered Maugean skate. Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek had been reconsidering the approval before Albanese’s intervention.
Speaker Sue Lines swiftly reeled in Hanson-Young for the fishy move, yelling: “Order! It’s a prop” before demanding the fish be removed immediately.
Not to be outdone, Hanson-Young said: “I seek leave to table it.”
The Greens bought the farmed Tasmanian salmon at a Costco store in Canberra and Hanson-Young concealed it under newspaper copies of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age as she carried it into the Senate chamber.
Before the fish made its appearance, Hanson-Young asked what the next industry to receive a carve-out from environmental laws would be after the salmon-farming precedent.
McAllister rejected the accusations, which she characterised as “mistruths … and exaggerations”.
Several senators could be seen holding back laughter at the outlandish stunt.
But the PM’s move to protect salmon farms is no joke to the Greens and environmentalists.
On Wednesday morning, Tasmanian Greens senator Peter Whish-Wilson launched a public tirade at Albanese, accusing him of risking the loss of one of Australia’s rarest animals.
“You’re a pack of mongrels!” Whish-Wilson shouted across a courtyard in Parliament House as Treasurer Jim Chalmers addressed the media following Tuesday’s federal budget. “Not good enough! Pushing the species to the brink of extinction under the cover of a budget.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has promised to protect salmon farming jobs as he tries to win Tasmanian seats in the upcoming election. The Senate is debating the bill, and it could be passed as soon as Wednesday evening with the support of the opposition.
Senator Sarah Hanson-Young hands a salmon to Peter Whish-Wilson during question time at Parliament House.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
The bill would bar third parties from requesting the government reconsider its approval for certain projects that were deemed lower impact and therefore not subject to a full environmental assessment. Known as uncontrolled actions, the bill would effectively bar challenges to developments such as salmon farms that had been in operation for five years or more.
Salmon farms are located around the Tasmanian coastline, and Macquarie Harbour is not the main source of salmon supply. But the harbour is where the most controversial leases are as it is the only place where the Maugean skate lives.
The species is more than 60 million years old but it is so elusive – spending its life hunting crustaceans on the bottom of the harbour – that it was discovered in 1988.
The federal government threatened species committee said last year that the best way to save the endangered fish was to eliminate, or at least dramatically cut back on, salmon farming in its habitat.
The committee said there was a “significant correlation” between low oxygen levels in Macquarie Harbour and an increase in salmon farming. Fish farming sucks oxygen out of the water, with fish food and faeces feeding oxygen-consuming bacteria.
A recent study from University of Tasmania scientists said the population remains critically endangered but had shown some signs of improvement.
Tuesday’s budget delivered $3 million over three years to continue a captive breeding program to help boost the Maugean skate’s population.
It is understood the salmon brought into parliament was to be disposed of.
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