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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2025-08-21 Daily Xml
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Grievance Debate

Algal Bloom

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA (Hartley—Leader of the Opposition) (15:08): What an arrogant government this government has become. The opposition gets three hours to hold this government to account each and every week and have you noticed, sir, that in two out of those three hours near the end of the session the Premier has actually left the chamber. How outrageous is that? It just speaks volumes about the arrogance that this government has displayed already.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Point of order: the leader is in breach of the standing orders making reference to which members are in the chamber and which are not. If that is the case, the opposition can let us know about the pairing arrangements.

The SPEAKER: The Leader of the Opposition is in breach of the standing orders and I will point out that just today the opposition has had 18 questions, the Independents have had four questions and the government have had three questions, so I do not think you can be complaining too much about the goings-on here in question time. In fact, there are stats collected each week and under your speakership, under the deputy leader's speakership and under the speakership of the member for Kavel, the opposition never got as many questions as you are enjoying now. So let's start the clock again on your grieve and maybe do not reflect on other people in the place.

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA: I think I started those statistics. I am glad they have been of good use to you. I rise today to speak on the failure of this government to mitigate the impacts of the harmful algal bloom crisis on our coastline. Once again, we have seen that Labor has concerned themselves more about protecting their own image than actually protecting the industry. They care more about saving face than actually saving the environment.

From the beginning of this crisis, we have seen a government that, quite frankly, has been asleep at the wheel and a government that is more interested in buck-passing and saving face than saving fish, as I pointed out. Recently, the opposition conducted a series of FOIs of the government, revealing the lengths that this Premier's office, his ministers and their offices went to to try to absolve themselves of the responsibility of responding to basic and genuine inquiries from industry and from people about the algal bloom crisis.

We have seen on this one here that it is certainly not a government that chooses to act, as they like to point out. They have been silent on that slogan lately. Have you noticed that? That is certainly something that they have used in regard to the algal bloom. It is a lazy government that is clearly prioritising things like more golf courses rather than gulf seahorses and, unfortunately, on this one here the seahorse has bolted.

The only thing more disastrous for people than the algal bloom crisis is the actual government's mishandling of this crisis. The government really needs to go touch grass or touch sand, because they have clearly lost touch with reality. They have lost touch with hardworking South Australians, their concerns and their needs. It was only yesterday in this place that the Treasurer was touting the purported raging success of the small business support grants they announced, long after we actually called for expanded support.

However, as we learned yesterday and today, more and more people are continuing to fall through the cracks yet, due to this government's narrow criteria, there has been a far lower volume of applications than South Australians would expect. Many people are telling us that it is not even worth putting in the paperwork because they do not fit the guidelines and the government just does not understand the industry. It feels like you must be a business that has completely collapsed before you can even hope of meeting the criteria—the stringent criteria that they seem to be relaxing by the day.

I have news for the Treasurer, the Premier and this too little, too late government. The funds are not getting to those who need them, and we saw that yesterday. A gentleman by the name of Mostyn, a tackle-shop owner, runs a small business in St Morris, just down the road from my own electorate. He is on Magill Road. Mostyn is the human face of the small business owners who have fallen through the cracks of this government response that has been completely lacklustre and completely inadequate.

He has been running this shop there in St Morris for around 25 years. I drive past it basically every single day. He told anyone who would listen yesterday—the media and us—that business has never been tougher. People are not fishing as much and they are buying less gear and less bait. That means that Mostyn has seen a sharp decline in his business for reasons completely outside of his control.

That is why this needs to be declared as a natural disaster, as the natural national disaster that it is. Like any small business owner put in that position, Mostyn has tried his best to weather a storm not of his own making. Because it is not being declared a natural disaster, he has no recourse over the banks and he has no recourse over the tax office. The bills just keep piling up, and where is this government? Missing in action.

Mostyn is trying to pull every lever possible to keep his business going. He finds himself in a position that no hardworking South Australian would ever hope to be in, confronting the reality of having to sell his family home, and he has told the Premier that in correspondence. Does this speak to a successful government response? I do not think it does.

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister secretly jets into Kangaroo Island. He has obviously told some people but he has not told the local mayor. I heard the mayor on radio this morning. I have to say, I have had the odd disagreement with Michael Pengilly and you would not want to have one; he will store it. How could the Prime Minister go to an island like that and not tell the local mayor? I mean, what is that about?

An honourable member: Or the federal member.

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA: Or the federal member, in fact. That is right. All the while, hardworking South Australians like Mostyn, as I pointed out, are struggling to make ends meet. Remember, the Premier gloated that the Prime Minister had come through on every request he had made of him. Well, it is time the Premier picked up the phone to one of his best mates in Albo and demanded that he declare this natural disaster what it is. That is the only way that we are going to start to see the seriousness of the response to this crisis that South Australians demand, because it is a crisis that is not going away. It is not going to be solved today, tomorrow or in the weeks or months after that. It is going to be here for a while.

Despite the suggestion of summer plans, it is clear from the response to date that at the moment Labor does not have a plan. They have failed to protect our environment, they have failed to protect local jobs, and it is time the government got serious about the harmful algal bloom crisis to help those who need it most, like Mostyn.

The SPEAKER: I will just make some quick remarks because you mentioned the Mayor of Kangaroo Island. I have never seen anyone in an emergency be as partisan as Michael Pengilly was during the bushfires of 2019 and 2020. It was actually disgraceful the way he behaved. And if you want a lesson in why there was such a big swing away from the Liberal Party, you can have a look at the behaviour of Michael Pengilly and how he dealt with the state Liberal government at the time.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Well, do not serve it up if you are not willing to get a little bit back. So, that might be why people do not engage with Michael Pengilly.

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