Overview

• Environment Minister Murray Watt invoked March 2025 amendments that strip the power to reconsider federal approvals older than five years.
• The decision cancels a Federal Court hearing by the Bob Brown Foundation, Environmental Defenders Office and The Australia Institute against the 2012 expansion approval.
• The government pledged A$18.3 million for an artificial oxygenation program aimed at restoring dissolved oxygen levels reduced by salmon pens.
• Conservation groups warn the Maugean skate population has plunged by about 47 percent from 2014 to 2021, with only 40–120 adults estimated remaining.
• Salmon Tasmania and regional stakeholders say the ruling secures regulatory certainty for more than 400 workers reliant on harbour aquaculture.