The Greens have ramped up their attacks over salmon farming legislation, with Senator Sarah Hanson-Young waving a dead fish during a debate in the upper house.
It comes in the wake of the federal government on Tuesday, ahead of , introducing a bill that could water down Australia's main nature laws by removing the environment minister's ability to revoke some past decisions.
The reforms are aimed at preserving the Tasmanian salmon industry in Macquarie Harbour, where approvals have been under review by the environment minister since a 2023 challenge from conservationists.
Intensive fish farming in this area has caused oxygen levels to plummet, posing an existential threat to the Maugean skate fish species.
The Greens oppose the legislation, along with key environmental advocates, and have been raising the plight of the Maugean skate, linked to the dinosaur age, which is only found in Macquarie Harbour on Tasmania's west coast where salmon farming is taking place.
Labor has passed legislation with the support of the Opposition in the House of Representatives to guarantee salmon farming can continue in Tasmania, amid concern over the industry's environmental and ecological impacts.
The changes to the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act were endorsed by the Labor caucus on Monday, despite private reservations from some MPs.
A dead salmon in the Senate
In the Senate on Wednesday, Hanson-Young, the Greens' environment and water spokesperson, accused the federal government of having "stitched up" a deal with the Opposition to "gut out environmental laws ... all in the name of a toxic, polluting salmon industry".
She asked Labor frontbencher Jenny McAllister — representing the environment minister — "what toxic industry ... would get the next carve out".
McAllister said Australia should be able to publicly debate environment laws, but that was "very difficult when every contribution to the debate from a party that claims to care about environmental outcomes and progress is underwritten by mistruths, misstatements and exaggerations".
The Greens oppose the federal government's proposed environment law reforms which are aimed at preserving Tasmania's salmon farming industry Source: SBS News
Senate president Sue Lines then told Hanson-Young to remove it immediately.
McAllister said: "Australians deserve better from their public representatives than stunts."
Greens senator confronts the PM
Earlier on Wednesday, Tasmanian Greens senator Peter Whish-Wilson vented his frustration over the legislation directly to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in an impromptu protest.
Whish-Wilson said he was on the way back from the parliamentary gym when he saw Albanese being interviewed by SBS World News in the courtyard outside the Senate chamber, as part of a series of breakfast interviews on .
"Not good enough, pushing a species to the brink of extinction under the cover of a budget," he called out from the Senate doors.
Whish-Wilson later said his reaction was impromptu after he saw Albanese doing interviews.
"The last thing the prime minister does at the end of this parliament is to sign the death warrant for a species," he said.
"This is the lowest point for me in my 14 years in the place."
Greens senator Peter Whish-Wilson has previously argued that Australian shoppers should be made aware of the environmental and ecological impacts of the Tasmanian Salmon industry. Source: AAP / Lukas Coch
The federal government also committed $28 million to improve oxygenation in the harbour, fund a captive breeding program and monitor the population.
While the breeding program has had some success, Whish-Wilson notes it does not recreate the scarcity of their wild habitat, meaning the skate may not be able to thrive outside of captivity.
Macquarie Harbour's skate levels have increased in recent years, but there is still some way to go before they return to pre-2009 levels, University of Tasmania research has found.
The bill is likely to pass before the federal election is called.
With reporting by the Australian Associated Press.
