In amongst the gestures and everything happening in the world last week, the Albanese government delivered two lessons in power.

The first came through Anthony Albanese’s latest intervention in the fight to save the Maugean skate from extinction.

For those unaware, the Maugean skate, also known as the ‘dinosaur fish’ because of its direct lineage to the Gondwana era, is the only known brackish water skate in the world.

It only lives in Tasmania’s Macquarie Harbour, one-third of which sits in the state’s Wilderness World Heritage Area.

So far, pretty simple; Australia has a literal dinosaur fish and the only known example in the world.  So we should protect it, right?

Well, yes. And it would be simple if it wasn’t for vested interests.

Enter the multi-billion-dollar, foreign owned salmon farming industry, which through intense lobbying dressed up as a ‘jobs versus the environment’ fight, has some people convinced is on the verge of collapse if Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek follows the science and winds back marine farming in Macquarie Harbour.

So what are we talking about here?  According to the salmon companies’ own documents, there are 109 salmon farmers working on the West Coast, which includes drive in, drive out workers.  So that is about 7 per cent of the 1500 jobs salmon farming jobs across the state.

And even if we count up every salmon farming job across the whole of Tasmania, it barely makes up 1 per cent of employment in the Apple Isle.

Oh, and bonus!  That ‘multibillion’ industry?  Well, according to the ATO it’s paid no tax since 2019.  It did sell $4 billion worth of fish, yes. But profits went off-shore.

So you would think that makes it a pretty easy decision right?  It would be possible to help transition salmon workers in the Macquarie Harbour region to another job, AND save one of the world’s most unique creatures, while rehabilitating one of the most beautiful places on earth, protecting it for future generations we are the stewards for.

And yes.  It would be an easy decision. Except for the politics.

See, our environmental laws, even as weak as they are, are still providing enough of a barrier to extending the marine farming licences that Albanese felt the need to step in and assure the salmon industry he would introduce legislation that would secure its future in Macquarie Harbour.

Even as the skin of diseased, dead fish wash up on Tasmanian beaches, as images of rotting decaying fish floating at the edges of their pens are shown across the world, as scientists and the community battle to raise the environmental and moral importance of protecting what is ours only on loan – Albanese has pledged to protect the industry.

Images of rotting fish are shown across the world. Photo: The Bob Brown Foundation

And for what?  It’s not about the 109 jobs. It’s not even about saving seats in Tasmania (although of course that plays a role).

It’s about sending a message to the fossil fuel mining industry and other environmentally destructive sectors that the Australian government will not let environmental laws stand in the way of their business.

It’s a shibboleth, a wink and a nod to the mining industry that the government has its back.  Because that is how power works.

Australia has long been conned that the fossil fuel industry is the reason for its prosperity, and that to threaten any part of it would be to doom the country, so it makes sense that Albanese, on the cusp of a federal election is ensuring it knows he stands with it.

It’s easier to send that message via salmon farming than through a coal mine, but it amounts to the same.

It’s subtle, but once you see it, you’ll recognise it everywhere.

Governments choose priorities.  How they signal them though, is not always obvious.

A question of prioritues

Which leads us to our next lesson in power; the $2.4-billion rescue package for the Whyalla steelworks.

To be clear, the government investing in new greener industries is not a bad thing, and positioning the nation to take advantage of opportunities is what governments should be doing.

But in making the announcement, and committing at least $2.4 billion to secure its future, the government once again proved that when its a priority, money isn’t an issue.

As the Australia Institute’s Executive Director Richard Denniss regularly reminds people, former Morrison government treasurer Josh Frydenberg uttered perhaps the most honest words said in Australian politics in response to whether Australia could afford $360 billion for nuclear submarines no one asked for.

“Everything is affordable if it’s a priority. This is a priority.”

Whyalla again proves that everything is affordable if it’s a priority.  Saving the steelworks was a priority. Understandable.

But why then, is raising Australians out of poverty through a material increase in Centrelink payments, not?

Why isn’t it a priority to seriously address the housing affordability crisis with substantial impact, not funds?

Why is it the things we need to ‘live within our means on’ are always though which would have a tangible benefit on the nation’s residents as a whole, while the priorities seem to be supporting corporations and their badly run investments?

These priorities are always made clearer as an election approaches.

We are within smelling distance of one now, with rumours it could be called any day and words and promises are being thrown around like confetti.

Which is why it always pays to look at what messages power is sending capital. That’s where you’ll find the true priorities.  Always.

Amy Remeikis is Chief Political Analyst for The Australia Institute. Read more from her and the institute here.