Senator COLBECK (Tasmania) (17:36): It is with great pleasure that I rise to support the motion from Senator Duniam and to place on the record some genuine facts in relation to not only the situation that exists in Macquarie Harbour but also some of the things that have been said in this chamber today. The fact that the Labor Party stands up and tries to dismiss this important motion is a dismissal of the industry and the workers, quite frankly. It's disgraceful that the Labor Party stand here and try and portray this as something less than important. We expect the Greens to get up and do as they've just done on two occasions during this debate and just say, 'No, just close the industry down.' It's what they do. They do that for other primary industries and resource based industries as well—just say no. That's the mantra. It's simple, but it doesn't provide solutions. Let's be realistic about why we are here. We are here in this situation because Minister Plibersek made a decision based on some representations that were made to her under the act. She was required to make a decision; she wasn't required to undertake a review, as has been put to the chamber. She was required to make a decision, and she made the wrong one. The first thing that Minister Plibersek should have done in this process was to reject out of hand any evidence that came from the Environmental Defenders Office. We've seen in the Magistrates Court the description of the operations of the Environmental Defenders Office, which Labor fund, as lacking integrity. So the first thing that could have been done was to dismiss out of hand anything that comes from an organisation that submits information to a court case that lacks integrity, as found by the court. That's what should have happened. The minister could have decided to uphold the decision that former minister Tony Burke made in 2012 in relation to salmon farming in Macquarie Harbour. That's what Minister Plibersek could have done and should have done—she should have made that decision. Senator Whish-Wilson: That was 12 years ago! What's happened in the meantime? The ACTING DEPUTY PRESIDENT ( Senator Fawcett ): Order! Senator Colbeck, resume your seat. Senator Whish-Wilson: You're driving a species to extinction, and you don't care! The ACTING DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Senator Whish-Wilson, standing order 197 applies to you as it does to every senator in this place. I require you to comply with the standing orders. Senator Colbeck, you have the call. Senator COLBECK: Thank you, Acting Deputy President. It demonstrates that what I said about the Greens a moment ago is true. They just say no. They try and close everything down. They don't care about the people. They just want to shut it down. Senator Whish-Wilson: We're trying to save a species from extinction! Senator COLBECK: If you can't shut it down, you try and shout the people down. The ACTING DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Senator Colbeck, resume your seat. Senator Whish-Wilson, you are wilfully disobeying the standing orders and the direction of the chair. Senator Colbeck, you have the call. Senator COLBECK: Thank you for your protection, Acting Deputy President. Minister Plibersek could have made a decision to leave in place the existing approval made by her colleague the then minister for the environment Tony Burke in 2012. That's what she should have done. Had she done that, none of the genuine concerns of the Tasmanian community, particularly of the West Coast community, would have existed. It was Minister Plibersek who wrote to the Tasmanian Premier threatening to pause the industry. They are legitimately concerned when the federal minister writes to the Tasmanian Premier in those terms. Why shouldn't they be concerned? Then, off the back of that, Minister Plibersek made a decision to review a decision made 12 years ago. That raises the significant concern of sovereign risk for any decision made under the EPBC Act. Any decision made under the EPBC Act is now under threat because of what Minister Plibersek did. Never before has a decision that was made so long ago, where the industry has got on with operating under the approval that it was given, been reconsidered. Never has that been done before. It raises significant sovereign risk not just for the salmon industry but for any industry in this country that has an approval under the EPBC Act. That's what Minister Plibersek has done. So why shouldn't the Tasmanian community be concerned? More broadly, why shouldn't anyone who was operating with an approval under the EPBC Act be concerned about what this minister might do? This is an important motion. It is relevant in the context of everything that's happening today. We should not be in this position in the first place, because Minister Plibersek should not have made the decision that she made. (Time expired) The PRESIDENT: The question is that the urgency motion as moved by Senator Duniam be agreed to.