Subjects: The Coalition’s steadfast support for the aquaculture industry in Tasmania; Susie Bower – our Liberal Party candidate for Lyons.
E&OE.
SUSIE BOWER:
Well, it’s wonderful to be here in Triabunna this morning at Tassal. We know exactly how important the salmon industry is to the electorate of Lyons, and it’s wonderful to be here today, joined by our Opposition Leader, the Honourable Peter Dutton, Senator Jonno Duniam, and Luke Martin, the CEO of Salmon Tasmania. I’ll hand over to Luke.
LUKE MARTIN:
Thanks Susie. Look, it’s fantastic to have Mr Dutton here again. This is, I think, Peter’s third visit to part of the salmon aquaculture industry over the last six months. He visited Strahan, spent some time in the water, visited De Bruyn and met all the North West workers, and just to see a different part of the side of the industry and then this at the other in the supply chain. The full closed loop of Tasmanian salmon aquaculture, where effectively the final stage, the products turn into a value product for the region. But what this site represents and what I guess being here in Triabunna represents, is the power of this industry and what it means for local communities.
Triabunna is an extraordinary town that’s been through a bit of a rollercoaster economically over a long time, and when this industry, through Tassal, came into the town about 7 or 8 years ago through firstly the salmon farming operation on the motorway just behind us, but also this rendering plant here, it’s created employment opportunities for about 100 people from across Southern East Tasmania and created an economic lifeblood for this community.
You only have to go through Triabunna now and see the school numbers are growing, the shops that are open and see that this community is back and thriving again because of the power of this industry. That’s what this industry represents across all parts of Tasmania – whether it’s here or in Dover, in the South East, or Nubeena, or indeed over in Strahan. Again, it’s hard not to draw some parallels about again these industries, and these communities that are thriving, that are creating a great product and great product that Tasmanians appreciate, and it’s fantastic to be able to showcase that and share that with our leaders.
Peter, Senator Duniam, who’s no stranger to the industry, and obviously Susie who is also no stranger to the industry, and have been great supporters of Tasmanian salmon aquaculture right across the state.
JONNO DUNIAM:
Well, the contrast couldn’t be clearer. We’ve now got our third visit to a salmon related facility by the Leader of the Opposition, who’s made a commitment on behalf of the Coalition that we would protect and secure the salmon industry in Tasmania in perpetuity. We would end the vexatious claims made by green groups and we would protect the jobs – the thousands of jobs in this state this industry supports and the communities that those jobs are in. We’ve made our position clear, but the Government have not.
The Government refuse to make a decision. The Prime Minister has been to Tasmania a number of times, but has not given salmon workers the certainty they need and the certainty they deserve. This is the second Christmas coming up that salmon workers in our state will have no certainty about their jobs moving into the future. Tanya Plibersek can and should make a decision based on the science around the salmon operations in Macquarie Harbour. She knows that she can and should do the right thing by this industry, rather than caving into Greenactivists like the Bob Brown Foundation, their own taxpayer funded EDO, and the Australia Institute.
Can I also make the point that the contrast couldn’t be clearer between our Liberal candidate, Susie Bower and Labor’s candidate, Rebecca White.
It was Bec White who presided over the job losses in this community just a decade ago. In the lead up to the 2014 election, Bec White was a Cabinet Minister in Tasmania’s last Labor-Green Government. That was the Government that presided over the shutdown of the forestry industry in this state. As you drive to Triabunna, you’ll see the silhouette of the chip mill and export facility. It was her Government, of which she was a Cabinet Minister in, that presided over the shutdown of that industry and the hundreds of jobs that were stripped out of this community.
The salmon industry has come in to backfill those jobs, create those jobs in this community, and as Luke said, created a vibrant community now. But Bec White’s putting her hand up for Federal Parliament. Is she going to do the right thing by the people whose jobs depend on a decision being made by Tanya Plibersek? Is she going to stand up and say, ‘no, Tanya Plibersek you need to make a decision to support this industry’, or is she going to do what she did back in 2014 and stand idly by while the Labor-Green Government – of which she was apart – let the industry, the forestry industry in that case, shut down.
This electorate, this state, needs champions. People who will do the right thing based on common sense, stand up for workers. Bec White has form, we know what it is. Susie Bower’s made a commitment, that’s to protect this industry.
PETER DUTTON:
Thanks very much, Jonno.
Thank you to Luke and thank you to the workers here this morning. Australia has an incredibly important reputation worldwide. We’re clean and we’re green, we’re very supportive of sustainable industries and our product has a real value add because people know that we are world’s best practice when it comes to the environment, when it comes to sustainable aquaculture and agricultural practices that are committed to in this country, means that our farmers and people across primary industries really are great protectors of our environment. Why the Prime Minister chooses to ignore that, I don’t know?
I want to say thank you very much to Susie Bower, who really is a local champion and is committed to the workers and to this industry being sustainable. If Anthony Albanese and Bec White and Tanya Plibersek closed down salmon farming in Tasmania, we will lose thousands of jobs, regional areas will be destroyed because there’s just no replacement industry, and we want a vibrant Tasmanian economy and we can only do that if we support the sector.
The Prime Minister has made a choice, his choice is to go with the Green voters that he wants to attract in inner-city Sydney and Melbourne, but in doing that he’s sacrificed the voters and the local community, the local economy, here in Tasmania.
We have been absolutely crystal clear about our support for this industry, about our support for those families who are going into Christmas with uncertainty – as Jonno pointed out – because they don’t know whether their jobs are going to be around after the next election. Well under a Liberal Government, those jobs will be guaranteed, under an Albanese-Greens Government, you can be assured that those jobs and that industry will go.
If the Prime Minister had any credibility at all, he would be standing up to Tanya Plibersek, but of course he’s not, because they’re chasing votes from the Greens in inner-city Sydney and Melbourne, and that is detrimental, it’s devastating to the local Tasmanian economy.
It doesn’t just start and stop at the salmon farming either. The whole industry, as we’ve seen today, is an incredible employer, but the green groups and the environmental organisations won’t stop once they’ve defeated this industry, they’ll move on to the next, and that’s the reality of what we’ve seen in other parts of the country and indeed other parts of the world, and it’s acute here in Tasmania.
So we are the friends of the industry and we will continue to be so, and in Susie Bower, people will have not only a hard working local Member, but somebody who is on their side and who is prepared to stand up for them in a very uncertain time.
Happy to take some questions.
QUESTION:
Mr Dutton, there is some division within the community around salmon farming. There’s a protest happening today at Storm Bay, not far from Hobart. How much of an issue do you think salmon farming will be at the upcoming election here in Tasmania?
PETER DUTTON:
Well, I think look to the words of Paul Lennon and Dick Adams and others, who have been very critical of the Prime Minister, and I think they’re right in criticising the Prime Minister.
I think the Prime Minister has demonstrated very weak leadership here and there was an opportunity for the Prime Minister to stand up and to provide certainty to the community, he just hasn’t done that, and again, why would that be the case? Well, he’s chasing votes in inner-city Sydney and Melbourne, and unfortunately, families here who work in this factory, the local community – and it’s not just the direct workforce either, it’s the local cafes, all of the infrastructure that’s built to support this industry, the money that these families who are employed here spend in the local community, all of that evaporates because there is no replacement industry. I think that’s why the Prime Minister has made a very significant mistake here, and it’s another example of his weak leadership resulting in a detrimental outcome to our economy.
QUESTION:
You’re calling on Tanya Plibersek to make a decision as soon as possible in relation to the future of Macquarie Harbour, but there is a decision pending or a recommendation pending from the Threatened Species Scientific Committee around whether the Maugean skate should be uplisted from endangered to critically endangered. If it does eventually get uplisted to critically endangered, would that in any way change your view about whether or not salmon farming should be banned in Macquarie Harbour?
PETER DUTTON:
No, we’d…
QUESTION:
…Or would you still prioritise jobs over the Maugean skate’s future?
PETER DUTTON:
Well, we believe very strongly that there is a balance that’s been struck here, and when you look at the world class environmental standards that are being adhered to, when you look at the companies and the way in which they have engaged with the science and provided support to the local environment, they are the best protectors of endangered species and of the industry and of the sustainability of it. The Prime Minister refuses to acknowledge that.
We have been very clear that when people vote at the next election, if they vote for Susie Bower and they vote for the Liberal Party, and we are able to form government, there is absolute certainty for this industry. We will make sure that we work with the sector, but we are not going to hang Tasmanians out to dry as the Prime Minister is doing in the pursuit of Green votes in inner-city Sydney and Melbourne.
QUESTION:
So just to be clear, even if the Maugean skate gets uplisted to critically endangered, you won’t stop salmon farming in Macquarie Harbour?
PETER DUTTON:
We will not be stopping salmon farming. In fact, I want to see salmon farming grow in Tasmania, because I think if you look at the insatiable demand for the product that’s being produced out of this factory, this factory should be expanding, not contracting. I want to see next generations of Tasmanians employed in what is not just the most sustainable, but one of the cleanest industries in the world, and there is huge demand for an Australian product.
Why would we be damaging the Tasmanian and the Australian economy? Which is what the Prime Minister’s doing and he’s made a choice. I think it’s the wrong choice, but people will vote here in Lyons at the next election for Susie Bower, a candidate who strongly supports the local salmon industry and the workers, and Bec White who supports the closing down of this sector. I think it’s a very stark contrast for people to have before them, and I think I know which decision they’ll make.
QUESTION:
And what changes would a future Dutton Government make, if you can, in relation to whether or not there should be a hard deadline on appealing laws that relate, for example, to Macquarie Harbour and the fact that there is this ongoing push to have those leases reviewed?
PETER DUTTON:
Well Jonno might add to this, but I just want Tasmanians to be very clear here: it’s salmon farming today, it will be the next industry tomorrow, because all of these environmental defenders – so-called, are zealots and they don’t believe in industry or jobs.
So we will make sure that we provide support to the sector, we’ll make sure that it’s sustainable and we’ll make sure that there is a future for the Tasmanian salmon industry. From what I’ve seen and what I’ve read and looking at the advice that we’ve received, we’re on very safe ground in saying so.
QUESTION:
Just before we go to Jonno, can I just ask you one more question?
PETER DUTTON:
Sure mate, sure.
QUESTION:
There have been reports this week that the Prime Minister put forward this idea of a ‘national interest exemption’ for Macquarie Harbour. Is that something you would support?
PETER DUTTON:
Look, the Prime Minister’s been elected to be Prime Minister. He’s running around like some second rate Minister that’s running second fiddle to Tanya Plibersek. He’s the Prime Minister and he should run the Government accordingly. He should express his own view. I mean, I don’t know what he stands for, and the trouble is the Prime Minister goes to one room and argues black, and he goes into the next room and argues white. He’s wanting to tell people and wanting people to hear the message that he’ll support the workers, but you won’t know really what’s going to happen until after the election. I’ll tell you what that is, it’s code for them trying to get through the election without scrutiny.
Every credible political commentator in the country at the moment is saying that the best scenario for the Labor Party after the next election is to be in a minority Government with the Greens. If there is an Albanese-Bandt Government, that is the end of this industry. Let’s be very clear about it.
So there’s a lot at stake in Lyons and in Franklin and in Braddon and in Bass at the next election. So Tasmanians will have a big decision to make. I want to make sure that we’re very clear about our position and we have been, and people will know with full knowledge of the election, that if they’re voting for Susie Bower at the federal election, they are voting for a future for their families and for the local community.
QUESTION:
So just the question; what changes would the Coalition make to current laws, because you’re opposed to the length of time it’s been taking in the types of groups that can appeal decisions that were made a decade ago?
JONNO DUNIAM:
Sure. And just before I do get to that, I would like to add, though, that the Threatened Species Scientific Committee have asked for a year long extension to the work that they’re doing because new evidence has come to light about the improved state of the skate, and that is in contrast to the evidence that was tended by the green groups who have initiated this review. So it’s important to point that out. As the Leader said, we are pro-jobs and the two can coexist: jobs and a sustainable environment, which is what we believe in, unlike Labor and the Greens.
On the changes to the laws we’d make, well, we were promised that we’d have new environmental laws in this country by the end of last year – we don’t. This uncertainty continues for every single primary producer, every extractive industry, be it fisheries, aquaculture, forestry, mining.
The changes we want to see specifically with regard to the salmon industry are limiting the capacity for anyone, anywhere in the country, particularly cashed up activists from lodging a request for a review of permits.
Let’s not forget the permits that allow the salmon industry to farm on Macquarie Harbour were issued by then Environment Minister Tony Burke in 2012 – that’s more than a decade ago. We’ve got the Bob Brown Foundation, we’ve got the taxpayer funded EDO and the Australia Institute, saying they’ve got concerns and want a review. That is not good for job certainty, it’s not good for investor certainty, is not good for regional communities, to allow anyone, anywhere at any time, to make spurious claims and allow a review that has now gone on for more than a year, jeopardising hundreds of jobs and potentially thousands, to continue.
So we would limit the capacity for groups like this to be able to request reviews for a period of three years under a private senator’s bill currently before the Senate, and then after that point in time, only State or Territory Governments, in which a permit is operational, can request for review.
So it doesn’t snuff out the capacity for there to be a refresh of information to make sure things are operating properly, but we wouldn’t just allow this willy nilly, open slather, activist led, job destroying, approach that this Government is allowing to occur and playing right into, as I said, jeopardising hundreds of jobs, potentially thousands, in our community.
Thank you.
PETER DUTTON:
Thank you.
[ends]