This is a story about a lovely and slightly weird-looking creature – the Maugean skate – which only lives in Macquarie Harbour, Tasmania. This creature is on a pathway to extinction thanks to the salmon industry polluting the harbour. It’s also a bigger story, about extinction and the lengths government and industry will go to avoid action.
Australia’s extinction crisis
Australia is in the midst of an extinction crisis, one the current Albanese Government promised to remedy this term.
Australia holds over 10% of the world’s biodiversity, and our unique animals, plants and ecosystems reflect the millions of years of continental isolation and evolution.
Despite being home to globally unique flora and fauna, we tragically are a global loser in mammal extinctions: over 30 native Australian mammals are gone forever.
Australia has national environment laws in place designed to protect our forests, waterways and native species, but for decades these laws have been seriously failing.
Despite years of consultation, this year the Albanese Government caved in to pressure from the mining industry. As a result, long-promised reforms to our failing nature laws and national independent environment watchdog were shelved for this term of government.
“The Albanese Government promised to end extinctions and protect Australia’s wildlife through law reform. Instead, they are signing the extinction warrant for the Maugean skate.”
Glenn Walker, Head of Nature at Greenpeace Australia Pacific
Why make it even worse for threatened species then?
Instead of reforming our failing laws, a new Bill – the EPBC Amendment (Reconsiderations) Bill – is now scheduled for debate in the House of Representatives next Tuesday and in the Senate on Wednesday. Media reports indicate the proposed legislation aims to curtail the ability of third parties to request lawful reconsideration of the scope of environmental impacts of major projects.
If the Bill passes it would immediately halt a legal review by Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek focused on the appropriateness of the 2012 expansion of the Salmon industry in the Macquarie Harbour. The expansion that greatly impacted the endangered Maugean Skate.
The Bill would also limit the ability of conservation groups and other third parties from challenging past approvals that have allowed developments to go ahead and in some cases led to the decline of a species or environment.
“The move has been designed to shield the Tasmanian salmon industry from environmental scrutiny over its impact on the critically endangered Maugean skate but could have far reaching consequences beyond this,”
“With this Bill, the Albanese Government appears to have turned its back on its promise to end species extinctions.”
“Australia urgently needs strong, new nature laws that will end the extinction crisis and an independent watchdog to enforce them. We urge the Albanese Government to dump the Bill, not the skate, and get on with delivering this. It’s critical the Government give an ironclad guarantee that this would be delivered within the first 12 months of government if reelected this year.”
Glenn Walker, Head of Nature at Greenpeace Australia Pacific
