2023-10-13
By Peter Whish-Wilson
Senator for lutruwita/Tasmania
Healthy Oceans
It took a newly elected Labor Government a matter of mere weeks to dispel hope that its rhetoric on climate action might actually be matched by action. The freshly minted Government wasted no time offering up 46,758 square kilometres of new ocean acreage for fossil fuel companies to exploit in a time of climate emergency - making a mockery of Labor’s own weak climate target.
This cognitive dissonance on climate was promptly highlighted again by Anthony Albanese himself, who in the lead up to the last federal election told voters, “a Labor Government that I lead will rule out PEP-11.” Yet despite talking a big game in opposition about stopping the toxic offshore oil and gas project, we’ve seen the PM offer nothing but excuses as to why he has yet to kill the project.
We already have enough oil and gas in reserves to trigger catastrophic climate change to our planet. There’s no plausible excuse for Labor to put our marine ecosystems in jeopardy for the sake of a few profit-driven interests to drill for the exact same product that is killing our oceans. Yet that is exactly what we’ve seen this government do time and time again since being elected, making the Greens’ position of fighting for our oceans and holding the government to account on climate more important than ever before.
Greens-led Senate inquiries
Fisheries quota system inquiry
A Greens-initiated Senate Inquiry into the fisheries quota system recommended an ACCC inquiry into market concentration and potential abuses of market power in the Australian fisheries and the seafood sector. The inquiry held hearings over nearly 18 months and collected information on whether Australia’s fisheries management system results in good fishing practices. Of particular focus was how the decades-old system affects community fishers, whether it disempowers small fishers and benefits large interest groups, and whether the system is ecologically sustainable. This has been one of only two parliamentary inquiries in the last 40 years to scrutinise who actually owns our fishery resources, and if the system is working fairly for the Australian public and fishing communities. The evidence clearly shows that many in the fishing industry don't feel the current system is working for them, and the Greens believe this report demonstrates a significant opportunity for reform. One of the most damning revelations from this inquiry was that it is not clear in Australia who ultimately owns the right to our fishery resources across multiple fisheries - and frankly this is not good enough.
Inquiry into the spread of invasive long-spined sea urchins
The Greens succeeded in gaining support from all sides of politics to initiate a long overdue Senate inquiry into the spread of invasive long-spined sea urchins that are ravaging lutruwita/Tasmania and Victoria’s coastlines and fisheries. The inquiry looked into how to restore critical habitat such as lutruwita/Tasmania’s giant kelp forests which have been lost to urchins and other pressures. There is much we can do to restore our vanishing marine forests and other habitats, but the good work already underway urgently needs federal government assistance.
Waste and Recycling
Following questioning in Senate Estimates, the federal environment department finally acknowledged a move is underway to reset recycling and waste reduction laws, with hopes a national enforceable scheme to clean up plastic packaging waste will be established by 2025. This is long overdue, with the Federal Government’s failure to hold big companies to account for creating plastic waste - and its failure to mandate plastic recycling targets - to blame for recyclable soft plastics sent to landfill as a result of REDcycle’s collapse.
It’s a relief to see the federal environment department signal a long overdue move to establish a legally enforceable producer-responsibility scheme under federal laws. For years the Greens, waste advocacy groups, and the recycling industry have called for the government to regulate strict national waste reduction and recycling targets. For too long successive governments have allowed big producers of plastic pollution to self-regulate their own voluntary waste reduction and recycling targets, without any penalties for failure or fear of regulation. A new approach to waste reduction and recycling, if it is done correctly, will no doubt be a huge win for jobs, innovation, and Australia’s environment and oceans.
Agriculture
While both Labor and the Coalition were willing to undertake a Senate inquiry into biosecurity concerns, it was the Greens who successfully expanded the scope of the inquiry to include foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), varroa mite and lumpy-skin disease. It was also the Greens that managed to strip the Coalition’s intent for a highly politicised inquiry, and ensure that the Government did not chair the inquiry (and thereby be in charge of investigating itself). Thanks to the Greens this Senate inquiry has provided much-needed expert evidence and science into FMD and other biosecurity threats, which will help guide future policy developments in this area.
Questions asked at Senate Estimates of the government agency responsible for the regulation of agricultural and veterinary chemicals - the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) - resulted in investigations into deplorable incidents of staff misconduct, potential criminal offences and public service code breaches. It seems the APVMA is up to its neck in internal battles and its regulation and review of agricultural chemicals used in Australia is reckless and appalling. I struggle to see how it is up to the task of keeping our community and environment safe. The risks are too high not to adopt a more precautionary approach to regulating and reviewing Australia’s agricultural and veterinary chemicals. Reviews are now underway into how the embattled agency can get back on track, which the Greens will continue to scrutinise.
lutruwita/Tasmania
The impacts of salmon farming on the Maugean skate have been raised by the Greens for years, and frustratingly little has been done by either state or federal governments to prevent it from becoming the thylacine of the sea. Finally in Senate Estimates the federal Environment Department identified the salmon industry as a clear threat to the now endangered Maugean skate, and the federal Environment Minister is working with the Tasmanian Government to take “extreme intervention to assist and avert its extinction.” This couldn’t come soon enough.
Regulation of Tasmania’s salmon farming industry has been a total disaster. Successive federal environment ministers have watched on as salmon industry regulators and the Tasmanian government fail spectacularly to protect and prioritise the environment, including matters of national environmental significance like the sad decline of the Maugean skate.
The Albanese Government’s response to this prehistoric species’ likely extinction is a critical test, especially in light of its high-profile zero extinction pledge. I’m glad the Minister is taking this matter seriously and calling on the Tasmanian Government to act, but history shows it is captured by the salmon industry and is unlikely to take the extreme measures necessary - including ending industrial salmon farming in Macquarie Harbour.