Algal Bloom

Mr BASHAM (Finniss) (14:37): My question is to the Premier. Will the government provide live daily updates on the harmful algal bloom? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

Mr BASHAM: Our communities, small businesses and primary industries are becoming increasingly frustrated with the current weekly updates.

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Premier) (14:38): Over the course of a week there is a lot of data that is accumulated and assessed and then presented to the task force meeting and then it is updated accordingly. But I will tell you what businesses in your electorate are getting frustrated and upset about, I would say to the member for Finniss: in your electorate, in your community, there are vast reaches of the coastline where there is no algae, and there hasn't been for weeks, but people aren't visiting. Do you know why people aren't visiting? It is because the perception is out there, on the basis of misinformation and misperception, that the algal bloom is devastating that coastline. The only way people—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: This is serious. The only way that people in Victor Harbor, in Goolwa and in Port Elliot are going to be able to enjoy their livelihoods returning to what they are entitled to experience and expect is if people visit. There is no good reason for people not to be visiting your electorate and your community at the moment, because the algae is not there and has not been for weeks. Let's hope that continues.

Now, what they need is leadership from the member for Finniss, out there saying, 'Come and visit. Come and visit our community.' Instead, the member for Finniss is standing side by side with Frank Pangallo, running around providing misinformation to the community, and you need to think about that.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Members on my right and members on my left will come to order. Member for Morphett, stop yelling out when I am trying to get everyone to be quiet so I can hear your deputy leader on a point of order.

Mr TEAGUE: Standing order 98(a). It is a straightforward question directed to the frequency of updates. The Premier has descended into personal abuse, contrary to the standing order.

The SPEAKER: There was a bit of argy-bargy on both sides. We all know it is out of order to interject. If we listen to the Premier, maybe without interjections, we might get an answer.

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: I have sat down with small businesses in the electorate of Finniss, with people from Goolwa, Port Elliot and Victor Harbor. The local chamber of commerce arranged a round table with businesses in the electorate. These are good people, working hard, who rely upon visitors from other parts of the country and other parts of the state coming to those regions to enjoy their products and their services.

People aren't going to the south coast of the Fleurieu in the same volume because they are concerned about the algae, but there is no algae down there at the moment. There hasn't been algae down there for weeks. That is not well understood, and it is incumbent upon us that we let the South Australian community know that the algae isn't down there.

That information is out there but, instead, others are seeking to play politics with the algal bloom and catastrophising it in areas where it doesn't exist or are spreading misinformation to the extent that they feel so at ease, as a member of the South Australian Liberal Party, to bounce into a parliamentary committee and furnish references and documents that don't check out to be real. So if we want accurate information out there, everybody, including members of the Liberal Party, needs to stand up for fact and accurate information rather than spreading untruths.

Mr TEAGUE: Point of order: it appears that the Premier might have finished his answer, but the point of order is standing order 98(a). It was a straightforward question about the frequency of the updates.

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: I will acknowledge that, if the Liberal Party keep providing misinformation to the community, we might need to stand up more frequently to hold them to account for that. But I would much prefer—

The Hon. D.G. Pisoni: So it's all about politics then, is it?

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Unley can leave the chamber until the end of question time. Members on my right will come to order.

The honourable member for Unley having withdrawn from the chamber:

The SPEAKER: The deputy leader with a point of order.

Mr TEAGUE: It is standing order 98(a). The Premier can't evade the question by descending into speeches and personal abuse. It is a question as to the frequency of the updates.

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: We do the updates when we get information at hand. The task force meets on Thursdays. We meet after that, and then we are available for any questions on the matter all the time, whether it be here or whether it be in the media. I am readily available in the media. For better or worse, I am there, and we answer every inquiry that we get.

What I want to make sure is that the South Australian community are getting facts, not misinformation. It is important that we don't unnecessarily catastrophise the situation in a way that has an impact on communities that aren't affected by the bloom. Those that are need our support, and we are here to provide it, but those who don't have the impact of the algae should be able to enjoy visitors and the custom of other South Australians without misinformation informing their actions.