Anthony Albanese was forced to smile awkwardly after being relentlessly heckled by environmental protesters.
The Prime Minister was drowned out during a press conference in Sorrell, north east of Hobart in Tasmania, on Tuesday morning by demonstrators chanting ‘shame Albanese’ and ‘keep your promise’.
Mr Albanese, who had been unveiling current state MP and former state Opposition leader Rebecca White as the candidate for marginal federal seat of Lyons, at first did not react to or address the handful protesters and instead stared forward in stony silence.
The protesters, who were reportedly from the environmentalist Bob Brown Foundation, chanted ‘Save the Maguean Skate’ over and over as Mr Albanese did his best to ignore them.
But when they got close to the lectern the Prime Minister was forced to address the demonstrators.
‘Good on you,’ he said, as they unfurled an enormous blue banner which said ‘Save the Maugean Skate’.
They then chanted: ‘Keep your promise! No new extinctions!’ as Mr Albanese, Ms White and Agriculture Minister Julie Collins smiled awkwardly.
It was perhaps an odd time to protest given the Prime Minister had just pledged $28million on efforts to improve water quality and environmental conditions at Macquarie Harbour.
The Prime Minister was drowned out during a press conference in Sorrell, north east of Hobart in Tasmania , by demonstrators chanting ‘shame Albanese’ and ‘keep your promise’
It is a major salmon fishing ground and the only known home of the Maugean Skate, the endangered species so close to the protesters’ hearts.
Mr Albanese said Tasmania’s salmon industry was ‘the backbone of many regional communities and it’s essential we support the thousands of jobs it creates right across the state’.
‘To do that it’s essential we have a sustainable industry which supports workers and the environment,’ he said.
‘That’s exactly what this will help to do, making sure we have a sustainable salmon industry and deliver stability for workers and their families into the future.’
He added: ‘I support the jobs that come from economic activity here in Tasmania … but we need to make sure that the industry operates in a sustainable way.’
To help offset harm to Macquarie Harbour’s health from human activities, $21million has been earmarked for scaling up oxygenation in the harbour.
The protesters, who were reportedly from the environmentalist Bob Brown Foundation, chanted ‘Save the Maguean Skate’ over and over as Mr Albanese did his best to ignore them
A further $5million has been committed specifically to expanding the Maugean skate’s breeding program.
The ray fish has long been plagued by predators and pollution.
Tasmanian senator Anne Urquhart, who is giving up her safe senate seat for a run at the lower house, said the new efforts ‘will protect the industry and the Maugean Skate’.
But Alistair Allan, Antarctic and Marine campaigner at Bob Brown Foundation, called for government to go a step further by ‘following its own conservation advice by banning fish farming in the Harbour altogether’.
‘We know fish farms have a catastrophic impact on the Maugean Skate,’ he said.
Mr Allan was also critical of Coles supermarket for its alleged ‘complicity in causing the extinction of the Maugean Skate’.
The activist group claims that the supermarket giant’s decision to sell farmed salmon from Macquarie Harbour has a ‘catastrophic impact on the Maugean Skate’s survival’.
‘Coles is completely aware that industrial salmon farms in Macquarie Harbour are causing an extinction, yet they refuse to stop selling the product,’ Mr Allan added.
He added: ‘Selling farmed salmon from Macquarie Harbour is like Coles selling rhino horn or ivory.
‘Coles needs to stop profiting from extinction now.
‘It is outrageous that Prime Minister Albanese will give $28million of taxpayers’ money to cover up the devastating impact of huge multinational companies in Macquarie Harbour who pay zero dollars in taxes.’
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