Australian Senator Wields Dead Salmon in Parliament to Protest Farming Laws 

Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young speaks on the Government’s salmon farming legislation in the Senate chamber at Parliament House in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia, 25 March 2025. (EPA) 
Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young speaks on the Government’s salmon farming legislation in the Senate chamber at Parliament House in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia, 25 March 2025. (EPA) 
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Australian Senator Wields Dead Salmon in Parliament to Protest Farming Laws 

Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young speaks on the Government’s salmon farming legislation in the Senate chamber at Parliament House in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia, 25 March 2025. (EPA) 
Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young speaks on the Government’s salmon farming legislation in the Senate chamber at Parliament House in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia, 25 March 2025. (EPA) 

An Australian senator pulled out a large, dead fish in Parliament on Wednesday to protest the government's proposed laws that would safeguard controversial salmon farms in a heritage-listed inlet in the state of Tasmania.

The bill is being debated by the Senate, where it is expected to pass in the final days of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's government ahead of a general election due by May.

Criticizing the bill during parliamentary question time on Wednesday, Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young accused the government of "gutting" environmental protections to support a "toxic, polluting salmon industry".

She produced a whole dead salmon in a plastic bag while asking Labor senator Jenny McAllister, representing the Environment Minister, "On the eve of the election, have you sold out your environmental credentials for a rotten, stinking extinction salmon?"

After some commotion and Senate president Sue Lines asking Hanson-Young to remove "the prop", McAllister replied: "My view is Australians deserve better from their public representative than stunts".

The proposed laws would guarantee salmon farming in the world-heritage-listed Macquarie Harbor on Tasmania's west coast and reduce the ability of the public to challenge approvals.

Albanese's Labor party has maintained the bill is necessary to protect jobs in Tasmania's salmon farming industry.

But environmental groups and the Green party are concerned about the nutrient and chemical pollution caused by the industry, and its effects on marine wildlife including the rare Maugean skate, only found in the Macquarie and Bathurst Harbors in Tasmania.



Nepal Plans to Restrict Everest Permits to Experienced Climbers

FILE PHOTO: A mountaineer holds on to the rope during an ice climbing session at Everest base camp, Nepal April 15, 2025. REUTERS/Purnima Shrestha
FILE PHOTO: A mountaineer holds on to the rope during an ice climbing session at Everest base camp, Nepal April 15, 2025. REUTERS/Purnima Shrestha
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Nepal Plans to Restrict Everest Permits to Experienced Climbers

FILE PHOTO: A mountaineer holds on to the rope during an ice climbing session at Everest base camp, Nepal April 15, 2025. REUTERS/Purnima Shrestha
FILE PHOTO: A mountaineer holds on to the rope during an ice climbing session at Everest base camp, Nepal April 15, 2025. REUTERS/Purnima Shrestha

Nepal will issue Everest permits only to climbers with experience of scaling at least one of the Himalayan nation's 7,000-meter (22,965 ft) peaks, according to the draft of a new law aimed at reducing overcrowding and improving safety.
Nepal, which is heavily reliant on climbing, trekking and tourism for foreign exchange, has faced criticism for permitting too many climbers, including inexperienced ones, to try to ascend the 8,849-meter (29,032 ft) peak, Reuters reported.
This often results in long queues of climbers in the 'death Zone', an area below the summit with insufficient natural oxygen for survival.
Overcrowding has been blamed for the high number of deaths on the mountain. At least 12 climbers died, and another five went missing on Everest's slopes in 2023 when Nepal issued 478 permits. Eight climbers died last year.
Under the proposed law, an Everest permit would be issued only after a climber provides evidence of having climbed at least one 7,000-meter mountain in Nepal.
The sardar, or the head of local staff, and the mountain guide accompanying climbers must also be Nepali citizens.
The draft law has been registered at the National Assembly, the upper house of parliament, where the ruling alliance holds a majority required to pass the bill.
International expedition operators have urged Nepal to allow any 7,000-meter peak, not just those in the Himalayan nation, for the Everest permit.
"That wouldn't make any sense. And I would also add mountains that are close to 7,000 meters to that list and that are widely used as preparation, like Ama Dablam, Aconcagua, Denali and others," said Lukas Furtenbach of Austria-based expedition organizer, Furtenbach Adventures.
Furtenbach, currently leading an expedition on Everest, said mountain guides from other countries must also be allowed to work on Everest, as there are not enough qualified Nepali mountain guides.
"It is important that mountain guides have a qualification like IFMGA (International Federation of Mountain Guides Associations), no matter what nationality they are. We do also welcome Nepali IFMGA guides to work in the Alps in Europe," he told Reuters.
Garrett Madison of the US-based Madison Mountaineering also said a 6,500-meter peak anywhere in the world would be a better idea.
"It's too difficult to find a reasonable 7,000-meter plus peak in Nepal," Madison said.