00:00For more than a year, Macquarie Harbour's uncertain future has caused plenty of concern
00:07on the west coast.
00:08The school has gone down in size because people are worried about their jobs, people are worried
00:15in town.
00:17Even without detail about what the Prime Minister's new legislation will look like, his promise
00:22to keep the harbour full of salmon pens has lifted spirits.
00:25The family were quite happy, the kids were jumping over the moon, so it was really good.
00:29It's huge, because them workers down there at Strawn now, they know where their future,
00:34they can build on their future, so it's great news.
00:37I'm very pleased for the sake of the west coast, there's a lot of people employed there,
00:42so that's good.
00:43Environmentalists say the continuation of salmon farming is disastrous for the endangered
00:48Morgian skate, despite a new study providing a more optimistic outlook about its future.
00:54Let's fix our national environmental laws.
00:57Let's not introduce special legislation to protect the profits of foreign owned corporations
01:03at the expense of our native species and our world heritage.
01:07Both major parties have now guaranteed salmon farming in Macquarie Harbour will continue,
01:12hoping the stance will help to win over voters in Braddon, where Liberal MP Gavin Pearce
01:17is retiring.
01:18I think it's political playground and either party are just playing off the people, which
01:22is unfortunate.
01:24West Coast locals will now wait to see when the promised laws will come into effect.
01:28Parliament may not return before the election is called, meaning salmon could still feature
01:33during the election campaign.
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