Algal Bloom

The Hon. H.M. GIROLAMO (Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (14:50): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before addressing questions to the Minister for Primary Industries on the topic of the harmful algal bloom.

Leave granted.

The Hon. H.M. GIROLAMO: For over seven months the government maintained that the main species causing the harmful algal bloom was Karenia mikimotoi, which is generally considered non-toxic. It has now come to light that the predominant species causing the harmful algal bloom is the novel brevetoxin producer Karenia cristata. My questions to the minister are:

1. Why did it take so long to verify the species identified through genetic sequencing?

2. Was SARDI in possession of samples suitable for sequencing earlier in the year and, if so, why were they not analysed until now?

3. Can the minister guarantee that all marine species samples collected from April onwards were appropriately stored and preserved for retrospective testing?

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN (Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development, Minister for Forest Industries) (14:51): The harmful algal bloom includes a mix of Karenia species. The presence of Karenia cristata was confirmed along with several other Karenia species in a scientific paper published on 3 November, and the government confirmed this finding in a media conference on 5 November.

The University of Technology Sydney report—I use that as the brief description because there were multiple authors, including SARDI—discovered that Karenia cristata dominated most of the sites surveyed, where Karenia mikimotoi was consistently present. The UTS provided the original advice, according to my advice, that mikimotoi was detected off Waitpinga. This aligns with scientific understanding that algal blooms may include multiple species and that composition may change over time.