Part one of The Advocate's interview with Craig Garland, Tasmania's new not-a-politician politician. The Braddon Independent discusses some of the issues that matter most.
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00:00 So a lot has happened since election night and even before you were confirmed as being elected.
00:06 Labor declared the election lost and said it wouldn't try to form government. Would you have
00:11 preferred if Labor had tried to form government and would you have been more likely to support Labor?
00:18 I was having to support anybody so I didn't have a preference over Labor or Liberal.
00:27 As an independent that's the situation so I was quite at ease working with anybody that got
00:36 elected and I thought it was interesting that Labor conceded defeat and they hadn't lost and
00:43 the Liberal Party was claiming victory and they hadn't won. It was an unusual election in that
00:49 sense. I think the Labor Party probably would have been better off waiting a little while
00:54 to see their final wash up but anyway that's their run their party not me. So no preference.
01:03 What discussions have you had with the Premier?
01:06 We've tried to meet up a couple of times. I talked to him yesterday. We were in the toilet together
01:12 and they'll be getting in touch with me over the next few days and Jeremy said he'd be coming to
01:19 see me over the weekend. So we did try to meet a couple of times with a colleague of mine that I
01:25 wanted there. During the discussions he wasn't available and I certainly wasn't going to sit down
01:30 on my own. It's a new field for me so I wanted to make sure I had someone who was experienced
01:36 and the fellow I've got has got a shitload of experience so he's available from here on in.
01:42 So we'll see what happens on the weekend. Are you open to that kind of agreement?
01:47 Well it depends what the details are. I can't say anything until that. It's all hypothetical
01:52 really. I don't know what they expect from me and I've made it pretty plain where I stand on a lot
01:57 of things which are probably diametrically opposed to where the Liberal Party want to go so we'll see.
02:03 What do you hope discussions to look like Chris?
02:06 Well they know what I'm all about. There's umpteen dozen videos I've done over the last six years
02:12 whether you're talking Robbins Island, salmon farms, wind farms and a host of other things. So
02:18 there's no grey areas with me. You know what I stand for and they do. But negotiations are
02:23 negotiations and I hope we can get something resolved. We have some issues within our fishing
02:30 industry that have been just absolutely appalling what's happened. Not just to me but the other
02:37 fishermen as well. They've lost their income. They've basically lost their fishery because
02:42 lack of action on our concerns and there was certainly no shortage of information given to
02:48 them about what was going on. So I hope to get a small concession there and hopefully get an
02:56 agreement to do something whether they form government with me or not. Things need doing,
03:01 they do them on principle and they should do but you know so see what happens.
03:05 Many would say they don't know much about you besides your stance on salmon farms
03:11 and your concern about the fishing industry. So just exploring the issues, are you opposed
03:16 to the salmon industry or just its expansion into the northwest waters? I want it properly regulated
03:23 and as everybody's found out in recent times that is not happening. We have a species push to
03:29 extinction in the harbour. Salmon farmers are saying we're not giving up one job or one salmon.
03:36 To me that's just wrong. So I want proper regulation. In 2019 I was flown to Canberra
03:44 and Bill Shorten was going to be our next Prime Minister and I had that discussion with him about
03:49 what was happening with the salmon industry. And at that time he said Craig it's a state matter,
03:54 it's within state waters and I said no Bill. Our waterways and our fish belong to all Australians
03:58 and if a government isn't regulating things properly all of Australia is being screwed
04:03 and he shook me hand and agreed but he didn't win the election as we found out
04:06 and all that hard work though I don't actually shed a tear because you know
04:12 like I said yesterday at the declaration when you destroy or do over Tasmania or part of the
04:22 Tasmania I love it's like sticking a knife in my gut you know and politics was an outlet for me
04:28 because I was running around like a mad dog. I didn't know no one was listening, no one was acting
04:33 and I was losing. Well basically they'd like relocated seals into our fishery for 30 years
04:38 and refused to do anything about it and that shut down our net fishery. We went to Kalamari because
04:44 that's all we had and then everybody came into that with a rise in value and now they've shut
04:49 that for three months. So 85% of my income's been gone for the last four years and I'm supposed to
04:57 lump that. They're all going on about the salmon farm jobs how important they are. What about us
05:02 localised fishermen that feed the community you know we've been laid bare and really done over so
05:08 I'm sure Jeremy and the crew will do something about that. I've been elected on that issue
05:14 and people have spoken and you know I will be pushing for some quick action. Do you want to
05:19 see salmon industry removed from Macquarie Harbour? I've had discussions with a fella that's got an
05:26 extensive background in salmon farming and it doesn't have to be taken out altogether but it
05:32 certainly has to be scaled back. That expansion that took place was on the back of two weeks of
05:38 science done by a foreign science company paid for by the salmon farm so that's what the expansion
05:43 was ticked off on and the end result is a dead harbour. So proper regulation wouldn't go Australia.
05:56 I believe you've also opposed the Robbins Island wind farm. Is that the case? Yes my word.
06:03 Yeah I'm not against wind farms per se but right location and it's the same with the salmon farms
06:08 right location and done right you know it's really simple with me it's either good practice or bad
06:13 practice and if things are going to be done let's put them in the right location and Robbins
06:19 Island for a whole range of reasons is the worst location. Can you go through some of those?
06:25 Well for a start it was the meeting place of the eight or ten Aboriginal tribes of the Northwest.
06:30 They met there every October on the full moon every man woman and child and they spent four
06:36 weeks there. They had to. They had low diversity in numbers that's they did their intermarriage
06:41 and their ceremonies there so it's the most significant Aboriginal site on the whole Northwest
06:47 coast or at least it was to those eight or ten tribes and they're all gone there's no living
06:51 remaining living descendant of them so that's one reason. 20,000 migratory birds come there to
06:58 to feed roost and breed and move on every year. To put the biggest wind farm in the southern hemisphere
07:06 right in the middle of that is the wrong spot. They have to put a bridge causeway across the
07:10 channel. Robbins Island is the only place in Australia where two tides come in and meet on
07:15 the corner and then pull back and that's where they want to put the bridge causeway. It will
07:19 silt up. The nutrients that feed that whole system come through on the spring tides. The rich west
07:25 coast nutrient rich waters on the spring tides push through the whole system and feed it. You
07:30 put any obstruction there and it silts up that's the end of that. All the soil around Robbins
07:36 Passage is high acid sulfate soil and if you take the time to go down and have a look in the rock
07:40 pools there have a look at the amount of crustaceans invertebrates and shrimp and all that sort of
07:44 thing. They won't handle that. They have to compulsory acquire farmers lands to put their
07:50 transmission lines. They have to cut huge swathes through our forest reserves for those transmission
07:55 lines increasing the risk of fire. There's no benefit for us. I engaged Goanna Energy. I borrowed
08:03 1600 bucks so they could give me a pretty straightforward approach to what it meant
08:08 economically and basically he said apart from the Smith and Tuck shop and tall timbers during
08:13 construction there is nothing in it for this community. The CEPU have stated that there'll
08:18 be one apprentice a year. That's the employment. All the workers that have to come in have to be
08:23 skilled and they have to come from elsewhere. What else is there? What else do you need?
08:31 That's probably quite a question. How would you describe where you sit in politics compared to
08:37 the left and the right? I'm the bird with the left and right wing. That's how I see myself.
08:46 I've been involved with clubs. I've worked in offices. I've worked on the waterfront with a
08:51 lot of people and I've had to get on and agree or disagree and agree to get on with all different
08:57 aspects and sectors of society. I don't see myself as... if I had to see myself I'd just say I'm a
09:05 recalcitrant activist fisherman that's just had enough. So that's where I see myself. I see myself
09:14 as a grassroots common sense person with a practical view on most things and solutions.
09:24 Nothing's hard. It's not. But it gets complicated when the politics get involved
09:32 and fortunately for me I'm not a politician. I'm a community representative and that's how I see
09:39 myself and I'll retain that. I won't be dressing the same. I probably won't be hanging out in the
09:46 same clubs or restaurants that they do. What did your family think of your success and having a
09:55 politician now for a dad? Jack was excited but he didn't know what he was excited about because
10:02 everyone else was excited so he was jumping all over the place. Arthur wants a new phone. He's
10:06 eight years old. So I've never had a wage and it's been really tough for us for the last five years
10:12 watching the fishery get fished over and not having much money. Gracie, she's right into makeup
10:18 at the moment. She's 10 years old and into trending items so she can't wait to go to Hobart and get
10:24 some better makeup and maybe buy a bit more trending gear maybe. So yeah, Beck's very level
10:29 headed and if I had my way she'd be doing this. But you can't have three kids, run a household
10:35 and try and play a politician as well. But she's great. She sticks a bird into me when I need it
10:43 and reminds me and also she's quite smart. Thanks. They're all the questions. Oh that's it? Oh good.
10:49 Well that's not hard.
10:52 [BLANK_AUDIO]