Australian government ignored review advice on Macquarie Harbour salmon farming.
Australia’s federal government rejected departmental advice to reconsider salmon farming in Tasmania’s Macquarie Harbour shortly before passing legislation aimed at safeguarding the industry, according to newly released documents.
Reporting by The Guardian shows that officials in the environment department advised the government in late 2024 that a 2012 decision allowing expansion of salmon farming in the harbour should be revoked and reassessed under national environmental law.
The recommendation followed a formal request in 2023 by environmental organisations seeking a review of the earlier decision. Officials said there was “substantial new information” suggesting salmon farming was reducing dissolved oxygen levels in the harbour, affecting the habitat and behaviour of the endangered Maugean skate.
The department advised then environment minister Tanya Plibersek to order a fresh inquiry that could have led to scaling back or pausing salmon farming operations in the area.
Instead, the Labor government declined the recommendation and moved to change the legislative framework governing reconsideration requests. New laws passed in March 2025 limited the ability of third parties not directly involved in development applications to seek reviews of previous environmental decisions.
Prime minister Anthony Albanese told the three companies operating salmon farms in Tasmania that the changes would ensure “appropriate environmental laws” were in place to allow sustainable salmon farming to continue.
Plibersek’s successor as environment minister, Murray Watt, later confirmed that the reconsideration request filed by the Australia Institute, the Bob Brown Foundation and the Environmental Defenders Office had been rejected.
Environmental campaign groups criticised the government’s approach following the release of the documents under freedom of information laws.
The federal government said the advice reflected “a single point in time under a legislative framework that is no longer in place”, adding that it supports a salmon industry that protects jobs while maintaining environmental standards.
The Macquarie Harbour operations have been under scrutiny due to concerns over the endangered Maugean skate, a species found only in the harbour. A government scientific committee warned in 2024 that the population had fallen to extremely low levels and recommended reducing or removing fish farming to protect the species.
However, a later study by the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies suggested the skate population may have recovered to levels seen in 2014, though it remains listed as endangered and subject to continued monitoring.