West Coast Mayor Shane Pitt has released the following statement in relation to the announcement regarding salmon farming in Macquarie Harbour:
“Our hard-fought campaign to save Macquarie Harbour salmon jobs and our community has succeeded,” Mayor Pitt said.
“The Prime Minister has confirmed that he will introduce legislation to secure the future of Macquarie Harbour aquaculture and no job will be lost.
“When I got the call, I couldn’t help but fist-pump the air. This is exceptional news, and exactly what we’ve been asking for the past 18 months.
“Our community here on the West Coast, especially in Strahan, will breathe a collective sigh of relief.
“We’re proud of our salmon industry and our salmon workers, and they deserve to have the strong future that has now been guaranteed.
“I want to commend our salmon industry, workers, their families and our wider community for standing up for our industry and making our leaders listen.
“Too often our regional communities are overlooked, but we stood together, united and loud, and made our voices count.
“I want to thank all the political leaders who supported us every step of the way, Premier Jeremy Rockliff, Minister Eric Abetz, Labor Leader Dean Winter, Janie Finlay, Senator Anne Urquhart and Senator Jonno Duniam.
“Finally, I want to thank the Prime Minister for his support along the way. We were thrilled that he accepted my invitation to visit the West Coast and clearly meeting our Strahan community had a massive impact. His guarantee means the world to us.”