South Coast Algal Bloom

The Hon. C. BONAROS (15:02): Supplementary:

1. What has the department done publicly to let people know seafood, and particularly oysters, outside of the areas that she has identified is indeed safe to eat?

2. Can the minister provide an update on those areas that have been subject to quarantine in terms of the timeframe for their closures?

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN (Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development, Minister for Forest Industries) (15:02): I thank the honourable member for her supplementary question. The second question I think I covered in my answer. I talked about the areas that have closures and that that affects only 5 per cent. We had discussions with industry about the best way to be able to get that message out, and there has been a number of different mechanisms. There has been an update on, I believe from memory, both the Department for Environment and Water as well as PIRSA websites, although I am happy to check that for currency.

But also we discussed with industry that the best thing was for industry to really get that message out. Governments talking about safety perhaps go to a different audience. What we wanted was that message to get out to consumers, but importantly to overseas markets. When we have anything that results in a closure, we don't want to see an impression or perception negatively impacting all of our—in this case—oyster farmers when in fact the vast majority, 95 per cent in this case, were not affected. I know that the oyster association did a number of media activities, and we were happy to support them in that.