Australian Senator Sarah Hanson-Young recently caused an uproar in Parliament when she pulled out a dead salmon to protest fish farming practices in Tasmania.
Ms Hanson-Young represents the Australian Greens — a political party pushing for ecological sustainability, grassroots democracy, social justice, and peace and non-violence.
On Wednesday (26 March), she accused the salmon farming industry of harming marine ecosystems.
Source: Reuters
Ms Hanson-Young also slammed the government’s failure to implement stricter regulations.
“Now that the rotting, toxic salmon industry has a carve out from our environment laws, what toxic industry will be next?” she questioned, holding up the salmon.
The fish was decapitated and in a plastic bag.
“On the eve of the election, have you sold out your environment credentials for a rotten, stinking extinction salmon? Extinction salmon!” exclaimed Ms Hanson-Young.
The dramatic display shocked fellow senators, with most reacting to the smell by fanning the scent away.
Source: Reuters
Ms Hanson-Young’s protest centred on the environmental impact of Tasmania’s salmon farming industry.
The industry has faced allegations of overstocking, pollution, and high fish mortality rates.
The salmon farms reportedly produce at least five times more pollution each year than Tasmania’s entire sewage.
Activists have long warned that intensive fish farming damages marine ecosystems, and Ms Hanson-Young argues that government inaction has allowed these issues to worsen.
The Australian government has proposed laws that would safeguard salmon farms in a heritage-listed inlet in Tasmania, and in turn, protect jobs.
The bill is being debated by the Senate and is expected to pass in the final days of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s government. This is ahead of a general election due by May.
In Parliament, Senate president Sue Lines asked Ms Hanson-Young to remove “the prop” of the decapitated fish in a bag.
Source: Reuters
Meanwhile, Labor senator Jenny McAllister who represented the Environment Minister said, “My view is Australians deserve better from their public representative than stunts”.
Ms Hanson-Young’s dead salmon protest is not the first bizarre display in Australian politics.
In 2017, then-Senator Pauline Hanson wore a burqa to Parliament to push for a ban on the garment.
In 2019, an egg attack on far-right politician Fraser Anning made global headlines.
Also read: Children use dead python as skipping rope in Australian viral video, authorities investigating
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Featured image adapted from 9News and The Sydney Morning Herald.
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