Algal Bloom

Mr COWDREY (Colton) (14:51): My question is to the Minister for Environment and Water. Who has funding responsibility—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The Premier will come to order. Member for Flinders, you are on your last warning. I cannot hear the member for Colton.

The Hon. A. Koutsantonis interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Leader of Government Business, I would like silence so we can hear the question from the member for Colton.

Mr COWDREY: Who has funding responsibility for beach clean-up activities, including dead fish and seaweed at beaches covered by West Beach Parks, as a result of the harmful algal bloom? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

Mr COWDREY: Local councils in South Australia have been provided with the opportunity to bid into a fund to assist with the cost of beach clean-up activities as a result of the bloom. The opposition understand that West Beach Parks is unable to access the fund and instead has to fund beach clean-up activities within existing budgets. The expenditure potentially puts users of land at West Beach Parks, including local sports clubs and community groups, at risk of losing funding opportunities, particularly with an expected downturn in patronage at the caravan and accommodation facilities run by West Beach Parks.

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Premier) (14:52): I thank the member for Colton for his question. The beach clean-up exercise is important; this is actually quite a considerable logistical effort, particularly in some parts of regional South Australia which are affected by the algal bloom. Arguably, depending on when you look at it, it is actually metropolitan beaches that have been most adversely affected by the algal bloom in terms of the geography; the other part is in the member for Narungga's electorate—which I know he is familiar with—and on the eastern YP, in particular.

Ms Pratt interjecting:

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: We will keep visiting your electorate, member for Frome, don't worry about that. In respect of the clean-up, it is a significant logistical exercise, given the area we are talking about. Some local governments have been doing it better than others. Local government is ultimately responsible for the amenity of the beaches themselves—and some of them are well-equipped to clean up the beaches and some not so much.

What we have done, through the taskforce exercise, is commission a substantial piece of work to enable greater coordination and more resources going into the clean-up than would otherwise be the case, seeking to partner with local government. We have also worked with Surf Life Saving to help participate in that effort. They have access to infrastructure that we are calling upon.

In terms of the progress of that effort, it is gearing up, and there are a number of agencies within the state government that are contributing to it, DEW being one and the SES being another through Chief Beattie at a coordination level—and now he is being seconded into DPC as part of that coordinating effort.

We are progressively, as weeks go by, really trying to ramp that up, principally because we know that, like anything, government, no different to a business or an individual, gets better at things with more practise and more time. We wanted to start sooner rather than later in this effort, knowing that we are probably going to take time to get good at it. I have been particularly concerned about making sure that we get good at it by Christmas. It won't be feasible to make sure that every single minute of every day there isn't a fish on the beach or dead marine life.

In regard to West Beach Parks, I am happy to take that on notice, given that the member for Colton has raised it, and make inquiries about how we work with them and incorporate them in that effort. We have been in touch with West Beach Parks. The Minister for Tourism and I have certainly been in touch with them regarding the Great State vouchers to make sure that they're included in terms of eligibility. There was a suggestion that it should only apply in regional South Australia. We made a conscious decision to include metropolitan Adelaide, with West Beach Parks specifically in mind. I am happy to take that on notice and have a look at it. It is an important question and I am happy to make further inquiries, given the member for Colton raised it.