Question Time

Algal Bloom

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA (Hartley—Leader of the Opposition) (14:10): My question is to the Premier. Does the Premier stand by his statement on 13 October this year on ABC radio that the algal bloom is not toxic? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA: During an ABC interview on 13 October, the Premier said, 'A lot of people refer to the algal bloom as the "toxic algal bloom"—it's not toxic.'

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Premier, Minister for Defence and Space Industries) (14:10): I thank the Leader of the Opposition for his question on this important subject. The algal bloom is characterised or titled the 'harmful algal bloom' because it is clearly very harmful to our natural environment. The challenge that we've got in South Australia in regard to the algal bloom now more than anything is the perception of it.

We've got a challenge on our hands with the algal bloom—it's real and it hasn't completely disappeared—but there are some very good and positive signs that the government is being deliberately cautious about as a result of Karenia counts that have gone back down to normal levels across the majority of the state's coastline. Notwithstanding that, there is still a lot of concern in the community around the algal bloom because it isn't widely known or isn't well understood what the health implications are for human beings in respect of their interaction with the algal bloom.

That is why the government has been very deliberate in our language, making sure that, when we talk about the harmful algal bloom, we do it in a way that is not just consistent with the science that we receive through the task force but also consistent with the public health advice that we receive from high-quality public health officials that we have in SA Health, the same public health officials who provided sage and accurate advice to the former government during the course of the depths of the COVID crisis.

We are seeking to do nothing more than repeat and convey what we are told through the task force from our officials to the South Australian community. We scrutinise it, we ask lots of questions about it, to put it mildly—and anyone who has sat in a task force meeting can attest to this. We ask lots of questions about it and make sure that we take to the South Australian community the information we receive. While the government very much welcomes and hopes that the advice and the results that we have been seeing in recent weeks continue, I think we are still a little way away from being able to confidently say that the algal bloom has moved on. This is a risk that we will have to deal with for some time, but recent results have been exceptionally positive.

I look forward to members opposite, particularly those in coastal communities, like the member for Finniss has, the member for Colton has and the member for Morphett has, going out to communities along your coastline and saying, 'Hey, there's good news. We haven't had any algae here or any Karenia here for weeks.' That would be something you are welcome to do, although I suspect that might not be the emphasis of your communications more recently.