A bill to amend the country’s environment laws to protect salmon farming on Tasmania’s west coast will be tabled in federal parliament tomorrow. The move has angered environmentalist who warn it could threaten the survival of the Maugean stake and have broader consequences.
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00:00The fury of environmentalists directed at the federal government.
00:07Some of the country's biggest green groups switching target from Peter Dutton to the
00:11Prime Minister.
00:12This week in Parliament, the Prime Minister is proposing to send a species extinct.
00:19We have to stop that.
00:20The skate is at the same levels that it was back a decade ago.
00:26The change is intended to quash the current challenge to salmon farming in Tasmania's
00:50Macquarie Harbour, brought on by environment groups worried about the endangered Mugean
00:56I can guarantee the mining companies would never get out of it, would never get away
01:00with an exemption of what salmon's asking for tomorrow.
01:03The fact that Tasmania's salmon corporations need a carve out from federal environment
01:08laws to even be able to continue to operate sends a very clear message.
01:13But with the coalition likely to support the amendment, their protests may be futile.
01:19I want to leave Parliament this week with the bill having passed because it's what Tasmanian
01:23salmon workers need.
01:25We support jobs, but we also support sustainability.
01:28Labor swept into power with a plan to strengthen the nation's environment laws.
01:33Three years later, green groups say it's ending its first term, weakening them.
01:38And while salmon farming inspired this amendment, they fear the change will have broader implications.