A salmon standoff taking place in Tasmania, involving the Prime Minister, Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek and the state’s salmon industry.

Tanya Plibersek is concerned salmon farming in Macquarie Harbour is killing off the endangered Maugean skate, a prehistoric fish, which was only discovered by humans in the 1980s but has been around since the time of the dinosaur.

Plibersek is deliberating on whether the skates’ demise is a matter of national environmental significance, and if the Department finds that it is, the future of Tasmanian Salmon Farming would depend on the outcome of a lengthy review. 

However, the Prime Minister is proposing a radical solution to a potential review, saying he would give farms in Macquarie Harbour a “national interest exemption” from federal environmental laws.

Luke Grant chats with Opposition Environment Spokesperson, Senator Jonathan Dunniam, about whether salmon farming poses a genuine risk to the Megean Skate and the Coalition’s plans to protect the state’s industry.

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