Transcript of media conference regarding the Commonwealth Government’s proposed changes to the EPBC Act, with Alistair Allan (Bob Brown Foundation), Eloise Carr (Australia Institute), Nick Mckim (Tasmanian Greens Senator) & Jess Coughlan (Neighbours of Fish Farming), Parliament Lawns, Hobart, 20 March 2025.
Alistair Allan
We’re gathered here today for a snap rally to show our absolute outrage at Prime Minister Albanese’s plans to rush, push and jam through insane legislation that would exempt industries from our federal environment laws. Prime Minister Albanese and his federal government came into power with a mandate to increase to strengthen our environmental laws. Instead, they’re now trying to water and weaken them down.
So we’re here, different groups. We’ve got the Bob Brown Foundation, a myriad across the political spectrum, the Australia Institute, Neighbours of Fish Farms and the community at large, to send a clear message to Canberra that Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s plan is on the nose with Tasmanians. We do not want toxic, polluting fish farms to be pushing an animal to extinction, to have their waste and disgusting mess wash up on our beaches. We do not want fish farms in our waters, and we do not want the Prime Minister to provide them an exemption.
Journalist – Imogen Elliott
The state government has said it wants to see the legislation for itself. How are you able to form a view if you haven’t seen that legislation?
Alistair Allan
That we haven’t seen the legislation is part of the problem. This is a government, a federal government, that’s hiding any form of explanation of what they’re going to do, except that the one thing they are listening to is industry, and that’s all they ever listen to. This is a government, a federal government and a state government, that’s completely captured by these foreign-owned, massive, polluting fish farm companies. They don’t want the Australian public to know the legislation. They don’t want us to know the legislation. They just want to jam it through federal parliament as fast as they can and let it be done.
Journalist – Lucy Breaden
How does it feel that we’re hearing them talk about the north-west a lot, but then we don’t hear them discover any of the issues around the south-east, with salmon washing up everywhere, the mass mortality events, etc?
Alistair Allan
There’s a massive cognitive dissonance where we hear time and time again that this is to save what we now know from FOI documents is 20 jobs according to the census data in Strahan. But the exemption is not just – it’s a sneak move, it’s not just for this one industry and one harbour – it’s across the board, but it shouldn’t be anywhere. Whether they’re driving a species to extinction in the north-west in Macquarie Harbour, or whether they’re polluting the Huon Channel this industry, not just in Tasmanian but across the world, is an environmental disaster. It shouldn’t be in our waterways.
Journalist – Imogen Elliott
Does it seem like at the moment Anthony Albanese is winning himself any votes with his approach to this issue?
Alistair Allan
I think Anthony Albanese’s insistence to back in foreign-owned corporations that pay no tax against the wishes of a huge majority of Tasmanians is a vote loser. People want a government that stands up for our environment, that stands up for our wildlife, that takes the interests of Tasmanian communities, not huge foreign corporations, at heart. It is an absolute, absolute disaster for the Prime Minister, and he should walk away from he still can. The Prime Minister can walk away from this legislation and stick by what his government promised, and that was no new extinctions on their watch and stronger environmental laws.
Journalist – unidentified
Would you consider challenging this legally in any capacity?
Alistair Allan
We’ll be watching very closely what this legislation means. This is an attempt to push this issue under the rug, and we’ll be looking at all options to ensure that Australia’s environmental laws aren’t weakened but they’re upheld and made stronger.
Eloise Carr
This is not about activists versus fish farmers. This is about our democracy. We talk about Trump ripping up the world’s rules-based order. Now we are witnessing our two major parties ripping up the EPBC Act, our national nature law.
Journalist – Imogen Elliott
What do you think this will do in the lead up to the election? That this is becoming an escalating issue in the lead up to the polls.
Eloise Carr
I think when Australians find out what our two major parties are trying to do to our democracy, they will be outraged.
Journalist – Imogen Elliott
Do you think that we should at least get to see the legislation ourselves, like the public, we should get to see it.?
Eloise Carr
Of course we should. When we try and strengthen our national nature law, there was an exhaustive, extensive, drawn-out consultation process. When we try and rip them up for industries, it gets rushed through under the cover of the budget.
Journalist – Imogen Elliott
Can you maybe expand what you mean when you say this is bad for democracy?
Eloise Carr
This is an abuse of due process on multiple counts. Normal parliamentary process will be overridden next week if this gets shoved through under the cover of the budget. It is also overriding an ongoing review of fish farming in Macquarie Harbour.
Journalist – Lucy Breaden
Is it concerning that they clearly have found that the act that’s meant to protect the environment doesn’t suit their needs, so they’re just going to rewrite it?
Eloise Carr
It’s extremely concerning that for once, when the national nature law appears to be doing what it’s supposed to do – that is, protecting world heritage – that they are going to rip it up so that industries can continue to destroy it.
Tasmanian Times
Apart from salmon, what other environmentally-destructive industries could benefit from this kind of legislation?
Eloise Carr
Well, who knows. What we understand this amendment is going to do is to reduce or remove the right for communities to have decisions made reviewed when new science and new evidence comes to light about the impacts that harmful industries are having on our environment.
Journalist – unidentified
There was a recent report which showed that population numbers for the skate were appearing to bounce back while not being conclusive. The federal government also invested in oxygenation and a breeding program for the skate as well. Is it the case that the skate can coexist if these sorts of measures are allowed to be sort of seen out in the long run?
Eloise Carr
The latest IMAS report is in no way a green light for the salmon industry. It was heavily caveated and is tentative good news for skate numbers. It does not mean in any way that the skate is safe from extinction. It is still under threat from extinction. The Environment Department is sticking by its scientists and its science, and has reiterated that the skate remains under threat of extinction. There is no way the skate and salmon can continue together in Macquarie Harbour
Journalist – Imogen Elliott
Just generally, how much has this movement been growing? Against the salmon industry in recent weeks.
Eloise Carr
This movement has been growing exponentially. We are hearing of hundreds of people protesting in the north of the state at the same time as thousands of people in the south of the state. Last weekend, we’ve seen thousands of Tasmanians rallying over the summer months, and I’m sure it will continue to grow.
Nick McKim
So in the middle of an environmental and a social and an animal welfare catastrophe, it is beyond belief that Labor has now decided they’re going to work with Peter Dutton under the cover of the budget next week to smash through legislation to weaken Australia’s environment laws. This is legislation that’s going to continue to drive an iconic, ancient fish species into extinction, and Labor is giving the big middle finger to communities right around Tasmanian who’ve had a gutful of big salmon, who’ve had a gutful of the political establishment lining up to protect the corporate profits of foreign multinational salmon farming corporations who pay no tax.
You can hear that people have had a gutful and rightly so. So just quickly, a couple of months ago, when the Greens were this close to an agreement with Labor to actually strengthen Australia’s environment laws, the big fossil fuel corporations got on the phone to the Prime Minister, and that deal was scuttled. Fast forward two months. It’s the big salmon corporations who are pulling the strings of their Labor puppet Prime Minister. Labor could be working with the Greens next week to strengthen Australia’s environment laws. Instead, they’re going to work with Peter Dutton under the cover of the budget to weaken Australia’s environment laws. This is an absolute disgrace, it is –
Well, you can hear the depth of feeling here, and it’s because in many beaches around south east Tasmanian now, people can’t walk their dogs, they can’t go swimming without bumping into rotting, diseased salmon carcasses floating in the water. They cannot walk on their beaches without walking through greasy, fatty remnants of dead salmon that is polluting and contaminating our coastlines and our much-loved beaches. The reason – I just want to I’ll make a speech shortly, but the last thing I want to say to the media while they’re here is this, the Greens are going to stand with local communities, and we’re going to fight this on the beaches, and we’re going to go to Canberra next week, and we will fight this every step of the way in the parliament.
Tasmanian Times
Is this federal election going to be an election on the environment?
Nick McKim
Well, what we know –
Interjector
In Tasmania it will be.
Nick McKim
Someone’s reading my mind. What we know is Tasmanians come out in their droves, and they vote for the environment, we’ve historically shown that. Labor and the Liberals are going to get a massive shock in this election, and I have no doubt that tens and tens of thousands and potentially more of Tasmanians will cast their vote against Big Salmon in this election and for a clean environment, for the future of the Maugean skate, and for clean coastlines and beaches that people can walk on and swim on.
Journalist – Lucy Breaden
How do you feel about the Prime Minister describing the EPBC Act as flawed?
Nick McKim
Well, the Prime Minister is absolutely correct to describe it as flawed, but I come at it from a very different point of view, and so do the Greens. So yes, Mr. Albanese is right. The EPBC Act is flawed, but it’s flawed because it doesn’t do what it is supposed to do, and that is, protect the environment and protect biodiversity. The EPBC Act doesn’t do what it says on the tin. It is already too weak.
And if people don’t want to believe the Greens on this, I refer people to Professor Samuels’ review – eminent academic, extremely well respected figure in our country’s community, eminently independent and intelligent and compassionate human – who found, and I quote, “The ACT is not fit for purpose” because it doesn’t protect the environment.
And Professor Samuels recommended a suite of implementation which Labor promised to put in place, and now have not only walked away from but they’re going to come in next week and legislate completely contradictory to the commitment they made to the Australian people before the last election and the mandate they were given.
Journalist – Lucy Breaden
Is there much that can really be done, given the two major parties appear to be in lockstep on this issue?
Nick McKim
Well, no surprise that Labor and the Liberal parties are in lockstep to do over the environment and to support big salmon farming corporations, but the Greens and others, independents and local communities in Tasmania, have been here time after time after time. And you know what? We’ve won a fair few of those battles, and we can win this one.
Journalist – Imogen Elliott
Tasmanian salmon is still sold in supermarkets across the country. What will you be doing to get this message across to the rest of the country?
Nick McKim
I want to be really clear with Australians who might be thinking about buying Tasmanian salmon. Don’t do it. Tasmanian salmon is extinction salmon. Tasmanian salmon is contaminating coastlines, much-loved beaches. It is causing environmental death zones under the pens where the sea floor is carpeted in sludge and slime and nothing can live. This is a toxic industry, and there is only one thing that is going offshore from the big salmon corporations, and that is their profits. And the environmental harm, the animal cruelty, the extinctions and the massive loss of social amenity is what Tasmanians are being left to deal with. Do not buy Tasmanian salmon.
Journalist – Lucy Breaden
In terms of the broader impact – I mean, as we heard before, it will affect far more than salmon, and if we’re talking about this attitude of, ‘if the Act gives you the wrong answer, change it to give the right answer’ I mean, how dangerous is that?
Nick McKim
This is an extremely dangerous slippery slide where, instead of as they promised to strengthening environment laws in Australia, Labor is going to work with Peter Dutton’s Liberals to devastate our environment protection laws. These laws are already too weak, and now you’ve got Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton colluding under the cover of the budget to weaken our environment laws when they could actually be doing so much for Australia in this coming week in the Parliament, and instead, they’re going to work together to weaken environment laws.
Now we don’t know exactly what is in this legislation. My prediction is that it will be slammed down on the table in the House of Representatives first thing Tuesday morning. They will then collude together to guillotine the debate in the House of Representatives in order to get it to the Senate on Wednesday. Just so folks are aware, there is only two sitting days of the Commonwealth Parliament this week. It will be smashed through the House with the combined collusion of Labor and Liberal on the Tuesday, it will then come up to the Senate, and it will be smashed through the Senate with the combined collusion of the Labor and Liberal parties on Wednesday.
An epic failure of democratic process, and extremely dangerous, because this is not just going to be explicit legislation to facilitate and enable the destruction of the Macquarie Harbour ecosystem and the extinction of the Maugean skate all in the name of foreign corporate profits. This is going to weaken the legislation, not just in Tasmania, but right around the country, and not just for the foreign fish farming corporations who are going to benefit in the short term, but for corporate exploiters and rent seekers that are going to keep benefiting from this for many years. It is an utter disgrace.
Journalist – unidentified
If the legislation does pass what would you look to do from that point moving forward?
Nick McKim
Well, I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I’ve given you my prediction of what I suspect will. But what I’ll say to Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton is this: whether or not you’re successful in getting your toxic legislation to support a toxic industry through the Parliament next week, the fight is not going to end there, and we will campaign on this. We will stand with other candidates who are anti-salmon candidates. We will stand with the tens, potentially hundreds of thousands of Tasmanians who are not going to put up with this. This fight will keep going up to election day and beyond, because Tasmanians are going to vote for their environment, and they are going to vote Big Salmon out of Tasmanian
Jess Coughlan
So Neighbours of Fish Farming and our community supporters are here today because we are absolutely appalled that politicians are openly displaying the fact that they are bought by this industry. We’ve just had a crisis down on the south, south-east coastlines, which is ongoing. And we are not hearing from our Environment Minister in the state. We’re not hearing from our Health Minister, and we’re not hearing from the Fisheries Minister either.
And to see that echoed in the federal halls, the highest levels of our government, by the Prime Minister who is now going to change our environment laws to weaken them for this industry, it’s absolutely abysmal. It’s absolutely abysmal, and it’s not the politically safe choice.
