Question Time

Algal Bloom

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA (Hartley—Leader of the Opposition) (14:05): My question is to the Premier. Does the Premier support the findings of the Senate Environment and Communications References Committee's report, titled 'Algal Blooms in South Australia', which was published yesterday? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA: In relation to the SA government's response, the report states that 'time taken between the initial detection and the move to coordinate a potentially fragmented response was too long'.

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Premier, Minister for Defence and Space Industries) (14:06): I thank the Leader of the Opposition for the question. Yes, I am familiar with some elements of the report, although there is a comprehensive amount to digest. The first thing is I think that there are some elements of the report that have merit at a top-line level. I think, whenever there is an inquiry that occurs post an event, it's just an obvious truth that it is done with the value of hindsight, which is always invaluable when we contemplate how we respond to any event, particularly one of an unprecedented nature.

I also note, in a way that I know the Leader of the Opposition will well appreciate, that these types of inquiries from the Senate often have politics at the heart of their objective. The Coalition will have their politics, the Greens will have theirs and so forth, but that doesn't mean—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: —and the government will have theirs, no doubt—that there aren't some points of merit that are worthy of contemplation and consideration. I would just draw the Leader of the Opposition's attention though to the fact that, as he well appreciates—and we have been very candid about this—for almost every possible event that could be disruptive in our community, there are plans within emergency management: a cyber attack, a bushfire, a flood, a pandemic. You name it, there is a playbook or there is a response plan that sits in place. That was not the case for a harmful algal bloom.

The Leader of the Opposition repeatedly in the public arena cites the fact that there was a group of scientists who were looking for money at a federal level allocated to the harmful algal bloom. I never once heard the opposition aerate that until after the fact themselves, which is worthy of—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: If the Leader of the Opposition's contention is that the federal government should have funded the scientists that were looking for money to look into the effects of climate change, you should have advocated for that before the harmful algal bloom, if indeed you are the prophet that you profess to be. But the truth is that there was no emergency response plan to the harmful algal bloom—

Members interjecting:

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: You are warned.

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: —before one presented itself on this size and scale. As I was saying on ABC radio, I think it was Tuesday evening, we have had algal blooms in South Australia and Australia before; they are not uncommon. What makes this unique and unprecedented is the size, the scale and the particularly harmful nature of it. All of the historical experience in the past pointed to the bloom responding very differently than what it did, and in July it really became apparent that it was operating differently. That's when the opposition started to talk about the harmful algal bloom for the first time. That's when it sort of started generating a lot of tension. And that is what, of course, the government's public policy response reflected, the fact that we were indeed, it was clear, dealing with something that was unprecedented in nature.

What you have seen from the government since then is a pretty full-throated effort, notwithstanding the tens of millions of dollars that have been committed, then the $100 million that was committed, the countless public forums that government has presided over to make sure we get information out to the community. The challenges have continued to present themselves. We have had to deal with misinformation. We have had to deal with politicians from those opposite, making things up, deliberately dispersing them in the parliament, in the public arena. That takes time and oxygen. That creates confusion in the community, but we are just getting on with the task, and that's what we will continue to do.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Before we go to the next question, the member for Chaffey is called to order and warned for the first time. The member for Hammond is called to order and also warned for the first time. The member for Morphett is called order and warned twice, a second time. The member for Flinders is called to order as well. I also forgot, the member for Bragg, you're called to order as well.