Category Archives: Tasmania

Labor’s grassroots environmental group dismayed by rushed bill protecting salmon industry

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The Labor Environment Action Network says it won’t ‘sugar coat’ its reaction after working ‘so hard’ on obtaining commitment for EPA

Labor’s grassroots environment action network has told its members it does not support legislation that Anthony Albanese rushed through parliament this week to protect salmon farming in Tasmania, describing it as “frustrating and disappointing”.

In an email on Thursday, the Labor Environment Action Network (Lean) said it would not “sugar coat” its reaction to a bill that was introduced to end a formal government reconsideration of whether an expansion of fish farming in Macquarie Harbour, on the state’s west coast, in 2012 was properly approved.

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Controversial bill to protect Tasmanian salmon industry passes despite environmental concerns

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Critics say industry threatens the endangered Maugean skate and laws were rushed through with ’no proper process’

Controversial legislation to protect the Tasmanian salmon industry has passed parliament after the government guillotined debate to bring on a vote in the Senate on Wednesday night.

Government and Coalition senators voted in favour of the bill, which was designed to bring an end to a formal reconsideration by the environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, into whether an expansion of fish farming in Macquarie harbour in 2012 was properly approved.

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‘Apoplectic’ environment groups halt Coalition attack ads to take aim at Albanese over species’ ‘death warrant’

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Exclusive: Australia’s top green organisations suspend anti-nuclear power ads to fund campaign against Labor’s move to protect salmon industry

Australia’s leading environment organisations have abruptly suspended advertising campaigns attacking the Coalition’s plan to introduce nuclear power and are instead funding ads accusing Anthony Albanese of signing “the death warrant” of an endangered species.

The shift from criticising the Coalition to Labor on the cusp of an election campaign was agreed by the bosses of green groups – including the Australian Conservation Foundation, Greenpeace, the WWF Australia and the Climate Council – at what campaigners described as an emergency meeting on Saturday.

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Bob Brown urges Greens to punish Labor at election if Albanese amends law to protect salmon farming

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PM’s pledge to protect Tasmanian industry will weaken laws already failing to protect natural sites and at-risk species, environmentalists say

Former Greens leader Bob Brown has urged the minor party not to preference Labor ahead of the Liberal party in Tasmanian seats at the upcoming election if the Albanese government legislates to effectively exempt salmon farming from national environment laws.

Conservationists have sharply criticised Anthony Albanese’s pledge that he will rush through legislation next week to protect the salmon industry in Macquarie Harbour, on the state’s west coast, from the potential results of a long-running legal review.

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Albanese to rush through new laws to protect Tasmania’s salmon industry from legal threat

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Labor will push the contentious bill through parliament next week despite concerns about the extinction of the Maugean skate

Anthony Albanese plans to rush through contentious legislation next week to protect Tasmania’s salmon industry from a legal challenge over the industry’s impact on an endangered fish species.

The future of the salmon industry on the state’s west coast has become a sharp political issue centred on whether it can coexist with the Maugean skate, a ray-like species found only in Macquarie Harbour’s brackish waters.

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Dutton accuses Albanese of ‘ducking and weaving’ as PM at odds with ADF timeline of Chinese live-fire drill notification

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Opposition leader says Albanese ‘failing to answer basic questions’ as PM claims civilian and military notification happened ‘at around the same time’

Anthony Albanese says Australia received civilian and military notifications about Chinese live-fire drills in the Tasman Sea “at around the same time”, despite the chief of the Australian defence force telling Senate estimates the military notification came an hour after the commercial pilot.

The defence chief also revealed Chinese warships south of Hobart appeared likely to sail through the Great Australian Bight, and could be accompanied by an undetected nuclear submarine.

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Anthony Albanese under pressure on salmon farming from both conservationists and industry

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The future of Tasmanian salmon farms has become a political issue centred on whether they can coexist with the endangered Maugean skate

Anthony Albanese is caught in a pincer movement over a pre-election pledge that he will protect salmon farming in Tasmania’s Macquarie Harbour, with conservationists and industry leaders both urging him to rethink the commitment.

The future of salmon farming in the harbour on the state’s west coast has become a sharp political issue centred on whether it can coexist with the endangered Maugean skate, an endemic ray-like species that has survived since the age of the dinosaurs.

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Officials to euthanise 90 whales stranded on beach in remote north-western Tasmania

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Attempt to refloat false killer whales was unsuccessful, forcing wildlife authorities to make difficult decision for safety and ‘welfare reasons’

Tasmanian authorities plan to euthanise 90 surviving false killer whales in a group of 157 animals that have stranded on a beach near Arthur River, on the state’s remote north-west coast.

Marine conservation experts including wildlife veterinarians arrived at the site on Wednesday morning, confirming 90 animals were still alive.

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Albanese sparks anger with pledge over controversial salmon farming in Macquarie Harbour

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Prime minister tells Salmon Tasmania of promise to change legislation and allow ‘sustainable’ farming to continue

Anthony Albanese has promised to introduce legislation that will allow “sustainable salmon farming” to continue in Tasmania’s Macquarie Harbour, sparking anger from conversationists and researchers who urged for the local industry to be scaled back.

The promise, made in a letter to industry group Salmon Tasmania, came after years of lobbying for action in Macquarie Harbour to save the threatened Maugean skate from extinction.

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Tasmania fires destroy huge swath of wilderness and could ‘burn for weeks’

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Around 90,000 hectares of remote country in the state’s north-west have been razed after fires sparked by lightning strikes

Fires that have razed 90,000 hectares of remote Tasmanian wilderness, including world-heritage listed areas and parts of the famous Overland walking track, could burn for weeks as firefighters battle to contain blazes in remote terrain.

By late on Friday, more than 20 fires – which were sparked by dry lightning strikes on 3 February – had a combined perimeter of about 1,200km in the state’s north-west.

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Hot nights expected in southern Australian states as heatwave sweeps east

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‘Prolonged period of oppressive heat’ could push temperatures to mid 40C in South Australia, and mid 30C in Melbourne and Hobart

A heatwave marked by high humidity and hot nights will hit southern Australia next week as heat that baked western parts of the country moves east.

The period of intense heat for southern and central Australia is forecast to begin from Monday and last until Thursday, with South Australia, southern parts of the Northern Territory and far western parts of Queensland bearing the brunt.

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‘Intensely hot’ weather continues in south-eastern states as Victoria battles bushfires

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Heatwave not expected to end until Tuesday or Wednesday as fires burn in multiple national parks

South-eastern states sweltering in a heatwave may be waiting until late Tuesday or Wednesday for a cool change to bring some relief.

On Monday, temperatures in Melbourne peaked at 37.8C just before 4pm, after a high of 38C on Sunday.

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Baby dead and five injured in horrific house fire in Tasmania

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Firefighters pulled a child and adult from the Rokeby home on Sunday morning but were unable to reach the infant in time

A infant has been killed and four children and an adult injured in a horrific house fire in Tasmania on Sunday morning.

Police and emergency services responded to reports of a fire at Rokeby shortly before 9am.

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Australia news live: delays up to 70 minutes on Sydney trains as industrial action begins; Hume says Coalition would cut ‘bloated bureaucracy’

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‘Passengers should expect delays, service cancellations and large service gaps’ across Sydney today, NSW TrainLink warns. Follow today’s news live

Wong ‘absolutely confident’ government can work with Trump as US president

Moving to another topic, Penny Wong was asked about her invite to Donald Trump’s inauguration in the US, and responded:

Donald Trump has been elected President of the United States, and I’m honoured, on behalf of the country, to have been invited to his inauguration.

This includes humane treatment and the right to a fair trial. So that is their obligation, [and] we will look at the facts when they have been ascertained.

But I want to be clear, all options are on the table. Those options include expelling the ambassador and recalling Australia’s ambassador in Russia … I need, as the foreign minister, to identify and ascertain the facts beforehand.

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Southern Ocean winds to break stifling heatwave baking Australia’s south-east

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Front dragging warm air from the Pilbara brings ‘particularly hot’ weather to SA, NSW, Victoria and Tasmania

Winds from the Southern Ocean will bring relief on Monday to parts of south-eastern Australia sweltering through a three-day heatwave.

A heatwave warning for South Australia, New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania was issued by the Bureau of Meteorology for the weekend as temperatures were expected to spike in some parts to 40C.

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Missing hiker found in wilderness in Tasmania’s far west

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Man in his 50s was reported missing on Thursday night when he failed to return after attempting a walk from Cockle Creek, on the South Coast Track

Police have located an interstate hiker who went missing while attempting a solo walk in Tasmania’s far south-west.

The man, in his 50s, was reported missing on Thursday night when he failed to return after he was last seen attempting a walk from Cockle Creek on the South Coast Track.

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‘Heck of a light show’: spectacular bloom of bioluminescence returns to Tasmania’s coastline

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Phenomenon known as ‘sea sparkles’ or ‘red tide’ is caused by masses of noctiluca scintillans, a pink-coloured algae

Masses of glittering algae have returned to Tasmania’s coastline in a spectacular bloom of bioluminescence that experts say is the largest seen in years.

The phenomenon, known as “sea sparkles” or “red tide”, was caused by masses of noctiluca scintillans, a pink-coloured algae that experts say was beautiful to look at, but considered bad news for the environment.

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Police praise mostly well-behaved NYE revellers despite firework-related blazes

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Melbourne and Sydney fires brought under control, including in Tempe, and stabbings reported in Guildford and the Mornington Peninsula

New Year’s Eve revellers have largely been praised for their behaviour at Australia’s biggest fireworks shows, while officers were kept busy with outbursts of trouble around local fireworks.

More than a million people swarmed the main vantage points around Sydney harbour and hundreds of thousands of Melbourne partygoers were treated to a fireworks and laser spectacular.

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Man dies in Canberra river as life savers warn of elevated drowning risk over summer holidays

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The country has recorded more than 30 drowning deaths in December, including multiple fatalities over the weekend

A 21-year-old man has died while swimming in a river on Canberra’s southern edge, bringing the number of drowning deaths around Australia in December alone to more than 30.

The man was swimming in the Murrumbidgee River at Pine Island reserve, near Tuggeranong, with family and friends on Sunday afternoon but failed to resurface.

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Three drownings over weekend add to Australia’s growing toll as lifesavers plead for caution

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Drowning deaths in 2024 were overwhelmingly male, accounting for 22 of the 29 lives lost

Another three people have drowned in Australian waters as the summer death toll continues to climb during the festive period.

Police said on Sunday that two tourists were unable to be revived after a group of swimmers were pulled from a rip at a beach on Western Australia’s south-west coast.

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