Mr BAYLEY (Clark) - Mr Deputy Speaker, thanks to everyone else for leaving the Greens, the alternative side of this debate, just a few bare minutes to have our say. What a load of waffle. I heard one member compete between primary industries for which is the greatest and grandest in the world. I heard others talking about how much money has been put into this industry to greenwash it.
The science is abundantly clear and the science has been abundantly clear for decades: this was never a good place to be putting these kind of fish. In a climate emergency with a corresponding biodiversity crisis it is becoming more evident all the time. The science is abundantly clear, the call for action has been crystal clear and that is to remove biomass from the harbour, to remove salmon pens from the harbour.
Minister Plibersek has made a virtue out of claiming her commitment to ensuring there is not one more extinction on her watch in this country. The reality is that if urgent action is not taken before summer - minister, that is 30 days away - this species is on the brink of extinction and will go that way unless something is done. I do not know that the oxygenation of the water mechanically is the solution. The scientists have called for these fish to be removed because that is the clear solution to restoring the health of the harbour -
Mr Winter - Shut down the whole industry.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER - Order.
Mr BAYLEY - This is an industry that probably should not have been put there in the first place. It was expanded against the evidence, against the science. What do we get, Mr Winter? We had more than 1 million fish die last time we had a marine heatwave in that area, when there was a problem with the water quality, when there was a problem with the oxygenation.
We had huge dead zones underneath each of the fish pens. We had dead zones extending into the World Heritage component of Macquarie Harbour. It is clearly an issue that can only be fixed by removing this fish. If we want to talk about jobs, what do we think the multinationals that now own these companies are going to do when the next marine heatwave comes and millions and millions of these fish die again?
Mr Winter - You did not like it when they were locally owned.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER - Order.
Mr BAYLEY - Do we think that these multinationals are going to care about the communities and the jobs in Strahan? Are they going to care about the fact that there are people in high-vis vests buying pies and burgers in Queenstown and Strahan? No, the only thing they care about is their profits. The only thing they care about is their shareholders.
When we see the next mass fish kill, when we see the next heatwave come into Macquarie Harbour and the profits and the dead fish and the destruction continue, we know what they will do. They will up stumps and walk out and they will put pressure on whoever is sitting on this side of the House in the future. They will put pressure on them to open up more areas off shore, to go further out and to have more and more subsidies and more and more assistance for their businesses.
This is an industry that is not sustainable. It is not affordable. It is clearly being progressed in Macquarie Harbour at the expense of the skate.
