HANSARD
SITTING CALENDAR
SEARCH
LIVE BROADCAST
Hansard Dynamic Subject Index
House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2025-10-14 Daily Xml
Contents
Xml

Algal Bloom

Mr BASHAM (Finniss) (15:48): My question is to the Minister for Environment. When was the last significant reading for the harmful algal bloom taken on the South Coast? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

Mr BASHAM: In an interview on ABC radio yesterday, the Premier said:

If you are down at Victor Harbor, Goolwa, Middleton, Waitpinga, you know the waters are crystal clear and have been for some time. Similarly with KI.

That information is in stark contrast to the Beachsafe app that I checked yesterday and again today, reporting foam and discoloured water at Goolwa and Middleton beaches and discoloured water at Port Elliot. This information has been used by a local school on the South Coast to cancel an activity with a local surf school, even though the business owner, with his local knowledge and experience, believed the water to be safe to use.

The Hon. L.P. HOOD (Adelaide—Minister for Climate, Environment and Water) (15:49): Yes, that's right. There is a wealth of information that the member can avail himself of on the algalbloom.sa.gov.au website. He is welcome to go and look at the various cell counts for the areas that have been tested. As we have been talking about in terms of the Beachsafe app, it does have those three pieces of information around whether abnormal foam is present, whether there is discoloured water and when the beach was cleaned, so that people can make their own decisions around whether or not to go to that beach.

It is important to note that there was foam at beaches prior to the harmful algal bloom. There was discoloured water prior to the harmful algal bloom. It is our ocean, it is dynamic and it is always changing. These are just three key pieces of information that families can use when they decide to go to a beach during the summer or if they would like to host an event. This is about providing the public with all that information so that they can make informed decisions. But this is our ocean; as everyone knows, after a storm, for example, there is discoloration in the water and sometimes there is foam in the water, so I would encourage the member to go on the algalbloom.sa.gov.au website and find the information.

PARLIAMENTARY BUSINESS
MEMBERS
GET INVOLVED
ABOUT PARLIAMENT
VISIT
LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY
CONTACT