Question Time

South Coast Algal Bloom

The Hon. N.J. CENTOFANTI (Leader of the Opposition) (15:45): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking a question of the Minister for Primary Industries on the topic of algal bloom.

Leave granted.

The Hon. N.J. CENTOFANTI: For months, South Australian waters have been gripped by an algal bloom, crippling fish stocks, shutting down parts of the fishing industry and devastating coastal communities. Yet, from the outset, the government's response has been slow, narrow and reactive. Industry and individuals raised the alarm as early as in March and April, but action was only taken by the minister and her government in mid-July after sustained pressure from members of parliament, the public and the media. The Deputy Premier in early May said, and I quote:

The only thing that is going to break this algal bloom up is a change in the weather and starting to get strong westerly winds…We need a big change in weather to break this thing up; there is nothing we can do to precipitate this.

The Premier also stated that, and I quote:

Scientists were telling the Government that this will all go away in Winter when the water's cooled down. It just hasn't happened in the way that they expected.

My questions to the minister are:

1. Which expert scientific advisers or agencies provided your government with advice that the algal bloom would be gone by May or June?

2. Was this advice given in writing and will the minister table all relevant reports, modelling or correspondence?

3. At the time that you received this advice, did the government seek any second opinion or independent verifications?

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN (Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development, Minister for Forest Industries) (15:46): I thank the honourable member for her question. The significant algal bloom of the species Karenia mikimotoi was identified in South Australia in mid-March this year, initially in the waters around the Fleurieu Peninsula, specifically near Waitpinga and Parsons Beach. We have had algal blooms in the past here, the most recent significant one being back in 2014 in Coffin Bay.

It's fair to say that it is difficult to predict the duration of algal blooms. The scientists have been telling us this throughout in regard to what the causes of the algal bloom are and therefore what the expected likelihood and duration of an algal bloom continuing are.

There are three specific aspects which cause algal bloom in this particular circumstance. We have been advised that the significant marine heatwave, where sea temperatures were at least 2½° warmer than the usual average temperatures, was one significant factor. The second was the significant increase in nutrients in the water due to the River Murray floods and everything that came down the river in regard to those. Also, there was a significant upwelling, and of course the weather has been such that we haven't had a lot of cloud cover; instead we have had sunshine, obviously related to the drought conditions that we have been having. So we understand from the experts the reasons for this current algal bloom.

Our advice is that the factors that can lead to the decline or end of the bloom include a change in environmental conditions. That can include things such as cooler temperatures, increased mixing and water flow, decreased sunlight and decreased nutrient availability. Because of all those reasons, the current bloom, it's fair to say, is dynamic: it's moving and it's changing. Those changes can depend on weather, ocean circulation and environmental conditions.

PIRSA has been providing the SARDI South Australian algal bloom situational updates to the commercial fisheries and aquaculture sectors as well as to RecFish SA since 11 April this year. We had our first round table with coastal councils—I think it was on 9 April. There was a working group, initially between DEW and PIRSA, back on 3 April.

We had a second round table, hosted by the Deputy Premier and myself, with coastal MPs, on 15 May. Interestingly, only one opposition member attended. That was the member for Finniss on Teams, but no-one else it seems was interested. We have had meetings ongoing from that date forward when the formalised working group was established, which included SA Health, PIRSA, EPA, DEW, the SA Tourism Commission and SARDI.

On 3 June, we had a meeting convened with 80 leading scientists from across the nation, including overseas from New Zealand, to better understand the bloom and why it had not dissipated as predicted. We have had stakeholder forums with industry and community groups. We have announced fee relief and various support packages and had a number of public forums, so I think there has been a lot of work that has been happening since this first became an issue back in the middle of March.

We have heard from the opposition quite recently in terms of the algal bloom. It seems that back in March and April, and indeed May when we had the round table that coastal MPs were invited to, they weren't interested, but now—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN: Not very many. What did we see from the Leader of the Opposition in the other place on this matter? Very, very little. All of the work has been happening and continuing since the algal bloom was first detected back in March. That work is continuing. We continue to draw on the expertise of those who have—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN: We continue to draw on the expertise of the experts, the scientists in this field. We have had, as I mentioned, very ongoing liaison with those who have expertise in this area, including from around the world. This is a difficult time for our coastal communities. It is a difficult time for our fishers and for our regional communities. It's something that is unprecedented. Whilst we have had algal blooms in the past, we have never seen one that has been of this scale and that has persisted for so long. That's why it's important to have additional research, it's why it's important to support both our fishing businesses and also our regional communities, and that is what our government has been doing.