Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young has escalated protests against controversial salmon farming legislation by waving a dead fish during a heated Senate debate.
The theatrical protest in Canberra today came as the federal government pushes forward with amendments to Australia’s key environmental laws.
The legislation, which passed the House of Representatives with bipartisan support, aims to protect Tasmania’s salmon industry in Macquarie Harbour, where approvals have been under review following a 2023 challenge from conservationists
“On the eve of an election, have you sold out your environment credentials for a rotten, stinking extinction salmon,” Hanson-Young said.
She then produced a large dead fish wrapped in plastic, which Senate President Sue Lines immediately ordered to be removed.
“You’re not in a debate with me, it’s a prop, remove it from the chamber,” the President said.
Labor Senator Jenny McAllister condemned the display, saying Australians “deserve better from their public representatives than stunts”.
Environmental groups argue that intensive fish farming in the harbour has depleted oxygen levels, threatening the endangered Maugean skate – a prehistoric species found only in Macquarie Harbour.
Hanson-Young accused the government of having “stitched up” a deal with the Opposition to “gut out environmental laws” in the name of “a toxic, polluting salmon industry.”
McAllister defended the government’s position, claiming debate 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”.
In a separate incident earlier in the day, Tasmanian Greens Senator Peter Whish-Wilson confronted Prime Minister Anthony Albanese directly in an impromptu protest over the legislation.
