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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2025-10-15 Daily Xml
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Motions

Algal Bloom

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA (Hartley—Leader of the Opposition) (10:59): I move:

That this house—

(a) notes with concern the scale and duration of the harmful algal bloom affecting South Australian waters, including the Coorong Ramsar wetlands;

(b) recognises the ecological damage, including depleted fish stocks, loss of marine biodiversity, and long-term risks to coastal ecosystems;

(c) acknowledges the severe economic impact on commercial fishing, aquaculture, recreational fishing, and coastal businesses, and expresses support for affected families and communities;

(d) condemns the delayed and inadequate response of the state and federal Labor governments;

(e) calls on both governments to—

(i) extend and broaden eligibility for financial relief;

(ii) increase the fishing licence fee waiver to twelve months;

(iii) introduce a tourism voucher scheme to support affected tourism businesses;

(iv) release real-time and historical monitoring data;

(v) establish a coordinated, rapid-response framework;

(vi) institute a royal commission into the causes, impacts and government response; and

(f) affirms the need for transparency, accountability, and genuine engagement with industry and communities in responding to marine environmental crises.

It is interesting that when I first gave notice to move this motion devastation was running rampant through our state. I know there are some in government who want to try to reinvent history, but the fact is that Labor was warned about the risks of such an algal bloom in 2023, and a request was made of Labor at that time for $40 million. That was denied.

Whether or not we like to dwell on it now, the fact is that was denied. Now here we are, over six months into this devastating algal bloom, and unfortunately it is the residents of many coastal communities, it is the businesses along those coastal communities, it is the businesses that rely on those businesses along those coastal communities, that continue to suffer.

The response by this government—the lack of response by this Labor government—has been nothing but lacklustre, flat-footed and completely inadequate. We have seen multiple ministers now who are supposedly responsible for this bloom. We know there was the retirement of a minister, and we know that the Premier sat on the news of that retirement for several weeks before he appointed a new minister, and we saw evidence yesterday of how they are still playing catch up. They are still playing catch-up, and it is a real travesty and a real shame that communities, residents and businesses along our coast continue to suffer.

We have brought this motion forward, and it is interesting that, since putting pressure on this government on behalf of people and businesses who are affected along the coast, the government has now, finally, implemented some of our suggestions. I can remember exactly where I was: I was actually with the member for Frome and we were on a boat ramp. It was a very windy Sunday morning, and we were there with a charter provider who said to us at the time that the phone had not rung for several weeks, the emails had stopped coming in, and he was wondering whether he would literally have to give up his livelihood, his business, that he had run for over 10 years. At that time we were demanding some sort of JobKeeper-type relief, because we know that this algal bloom will pass but these people need some help, they need a bridge that gets them to that next point.

This Premier and this government have been completely inadequate and underwhelming when it comes to lobbying the federal government. You would think, with such a strong majority in Canberra, that if there were a political will there would be a way; you would think that this Premier, who is supposedly winning the awards he is winning at the moment, if he had that much courage, conviction and political capital he could pick up the phone and call Murray Watt, call the Prime Minister, and to get this declared the natural, national disaster it should be declared as. But instead, no, that has not happened, and we still see no JobKeeper-type relief and we still see businesses that are continuing to suffer.

Coming to the boat charter operator, we are finally now seeing the Coast is Calling-type vouchers. This type of thing is something that we have been calling for for an extended period of time. Yesterday there was a significant package announced, and while we do acknowledge that the sum of over $100 million was announced yesterday, unfortunately it has washed up a little bit too little and a little bit too late. A lot of this devastation could have been avoided had this government actually had its house in order.

Do we welcome the extension and the broadening of some of the eligibility for financial relief? Yes, we do, but I quoted yesterday an example of a gentleman who operates multiple tackle shops in and around Yorke Peninsula. He is one of the probably dozens of affected businesses that still cannot qualify for relief because they cannot jump through the hoops that this government continues to set.

When it comes to fishing licence fees, I have been in the member for Flinders' electorate—he would say the best electorate—in Port Lincoln on the West Coast, I have been in the member for Frome's electorate and I have been in the member for Chaffey's electorate. Whether it is the recreational fishing community or the commercial fishing community, the community has been decimated right across the state because of this harmful algal bloom.

Let's remember where we were only a few months ago when we saw this play out in public. We had this argument, this petulant argument, about whether this started in state waters or federal waters. Those opposite were basically mocking the opposition for doing their job, and that is to shine a light on the inadequacy of the response to this harmful algal bloom. We had ministers saying things like, 'Tell them to go to their insurers'—give me a break.

When it comes to real-time and historical monitoring data, the member for Finniss provided an exceptional example, a real-life example, on air this morning of the failure in adequate information being readily available having an actual financial impact and also a social impact, because now events are being cancelled when they should not be cancelled, and people who are then relying on those events to occur are experiencing a financial impact on their business.

Then we see this thought bubble that the government announced on the weekend where volunteers—and they are very good volunteers and they are capable volunteers, and often very young volunteers—are being asked and pressured and given responsibility to basically see what you cannot see in the water. How is that an adequate response to addressing this harmful algal bloom?

We still do not see adequate investment in terms of real-time and historical monitoring data. We asked the Premier. We gave him every opportunity yesterday—we actually asked the environment minister, but the Premier had to come in and rescue her—to provide an adequate timeframe in terms of how long it takes to get some of this testing done, and still it is the case that despite us being in basically a disaster situation, over six months later some of this testing is still done overseas.

They want to talk about the facility at Thebarton and how they are still going through accreditation. What point is there in having this done when the algal bloom, hopefully, will have subsided by then? It just shows you how flat-footed this government has been. It is not just the state government; it is also the federal government. We are still calling for that real-time and historical monitoring data.

Last night on Channel 7 news we saw another example of how people are coming forward—and these are not political players, these are real people—and saying that when they go out into the water, despite people telling them that it is okay, they are getting particular symptoms and their dog is getting particular symptoms. What does not help is when we see these lacklustre responses from this government and they do not release proper, thorough, real-life, real-time information.

We have also called for a coordinated rapid response framework and a royal commission. People say, 'Why do we need a royal commission?' Because a royal commission is the highest form of probing such an issue under no illusions, where people can be basically subpoenaed and required to deliver only honest and holistic answers to questions that are put to them. These could be questions around: who knew what when? What are the causes of these blooms? How likely are they to occur? What can we be doing as a state to ensure that these types of blooms—firstly, hopefully, they do not happen again but, if they do happen again, what can we do to be more resilient as a state?

We also affirm the need for transparency, accountability and genuine engagement with industry and communities in responding to these marine environmental crises. We know that the harmful algal bloom is unprecedented in its scale and duration. It is not just an environmental issue; it is a catastrophe for our marine ecosystems, our fishing industries and the livelihoods of too many South Australians, and it does demand urgent attention, accountability in action. The house must note with grave concern the devastating impact of this bloom.

We know that the Coorong, a Ramsar-listed wetland of international significance, has faced significant threat. We have seen that fish stocks have plummeted, marine biodiversity is in decline and the long-term health of our coastal communities now hangs in the balance. These are not abstract losses: they are a direct assault on the natural heritage that we should be protecting for future generations.

The economic toll is equally as severe. It is our commercial fishers, aquaculture operators and coastal businesses that are reeling. Families have built their lives around these industries and some of these families are struggling to make ends meet. I have been visiting them for over six months now. I have met with these operators, met with the fishermen and tackle shop owners who are all contending with some of the toughest business conditions as it is that they have ever experienced as a result of this algal bloom crisis—and it is a crisis. It is a disaster on a national scale, and it should be declared as that disaster of that scale, which is why we have joined the community in demanding that the federal government declare this a natural disaster.

Recreational fishing, which is also a cornerstone of our coastal culture, has also been decimated. Tourism, as we know, is a vital economic driver for our regions, and that is suffering as events are cancelled and visitors stay away from affected areas. While we welcome the government supporting our idea to introduce this type of voucher, there is certainly more that can be done. The stories I have quoted are stories of hardship, of businesses on the brink and also of communities fighting to survive, yet what is perhaps more galling is the slow walking of response, or lack thereof, from both the state and federal Labor governments.

I think that the government has woken up to this. I think they finally are starting to realise the impact that this is having, but the public will not forget. The public will not forget the lack of urgency, the lack of leadership. This government seems to be more interested in PR than lasting solutions. We have seen that time and time again, just like you saw on the weekend with their press conference on Saturday, which was postponed because of the foam in the water at Glenelg. I mean, this is information that we have been provided; we did not make this stuff up. They have come to us and told us this.

It is time for decisive action to support our communities and protect our environment, so this motion calls on the government to step up. We demand that they do extend and broaden eligibility for financial relief to ensure that no affected family or business is left behind, and we are calling on the government to ease the burden on our fishers. These are practical, immediate steps to provide relief where it is desperately needed, but it must go further. Transparency is non-negotiable, and the public deserves access to real-time and historical monitoring data to understand the scope of the crisis but also to hold decision-makers accountable.

We need a coordinated rapid response framework to ensure that future environmental crises are met with swift, effective action, not the dithering that we have seen to date. Most critically, the house must call for a royal commission into the causes, the impacts and the government response to this algal bloom because South Australians deserve answers, answers that they can trust. What led to the disaster? Could it have been prevented? Why has the response been so woefully inadequate? A royal commission will provide the transparency and the accountability that our communities demand and ensure that we are better prepared for the future. It will provide independent answers.

This motion is about standing up for South Australians. It is about affirming our commitment to our environment, our industries and our communities. It is about demanding better from those in power. I urge all members of this house to support the motion to send a message that we will not stand idly by while our coastlines suffer, our ecosystems degrade and our people are left to fend for themselves. So let us act with the urgency and resolve that this crisis demands. I commend the motion.

Mr DIGHTON (Black) (11:14): I rise on behalf of the government to oppose the motion from the Leader of the Opposition. What my coastal community, what the people of this state, want is for members of parliament to work together to respond to this unprecedented harmful bloom and not to play politics over this devastating issue.

The scale of the state government response to the harmful algal bloom is unprecedented, as the algal bloom itself is. From the first signs of the bloom in March, the state government has worked to understand the bloom, its causes, movement and impacts. To be clear, the algal bloom could not have been prevented and cannot be eradicated. To say any different is to deny science. Unfortunately, this is what we have seen from the opposition as they seek to politicise this issue for their own benefit, sometimes directly at the expense of those they claim to be representing.

The algal bloom has evolved, and our understanding of it has evolved with it. This is what happens in an event as unprecedented as this. The state government is guided by the science and research and the needs of communities and industries that are feeling the impacts of the bloom—not by political pointscoring, not by trying to sow distrust of the science.

The motive of the Leader of the Opposition is to support misinformation and disingenuous motive, wrapped up as concern about the people he has done nothing to help. Nothing could make this clearer than the Leader of the Opposition outsourcing the opposition's response to the algal bloom to the Hon. Frank Pangallo. Even he has gone quiet since he was exposed pushing fake research and theories on desalination plants, having lazily relied on AI to do his work for him.

It is misinformation that causes people not to buy South Australian seafood. It is this misinformation that causes people not to travel to coastal locations. The state government recognises the ecological impacts, the effects on fish stocks, marine diversity and the coastal ecosystem. The government acknowledges the impact on commercial and recreational fishing and businesses who rely on it as well as the broader impact to coastal communities through fewer people travelling to them and participating in marine activities.

I have clearly seen the impact of that harmful algal bloom in my community. The bloom has had a devastating environmental impact on marine life. Like many of my constituents, it has been traumatic to witness the scale of fish loss and marine life that has washed up on the beaches of Hallett Cove, Marino, Kingston Park, Seacliff and Brighton, along with many other impacted parts of our state. This is why yesterday's announcement, along with earlier announcements in July, is so important. The government has and is investing in advancing our science and protecting the environment, including:

water monitoring, forecasting, analysis and bloom mitigation;

a national office for algal bloom research, which will be based in South Australia;

trials of cutting-edge AI-powered live algal detection cytobots;

native shellfish limestone reef restoration—at one stage we had 150,000 hectares of shellfish and limestone reefs throughout South Australia, which have been removed, and they would be critical for supporting our environment;

reef projects, seagrass restoration and blue carbon trials; and

a breeding conservation program for endangered and threatened species.

Because of its impact on the environment, it has had a big impact on the lives and lifestyle of people who live in my community. We love the beach—and we are so lucky in my community to live next to some of the most spectacular beaches—yet, because of this bloom, a large number of people have spoken to me about how they have chosen to avoid the beach and the impact it has had on their wellbeing.

This is why the government is investing in measures to provide people with information they need so that they can return to the beach when it is safe. This includes seven-day (weekly) patrols at eight locations—Semaphore, Henley Beach, Glenelg, Brighton, Port Noarlunga, Moana, Aldinga Bay, Goolwa—and the launch of the Beachsafe app, which provides guidance about beach conditions at 23 locations across the metropolitan and southern coasts.

I joined with the Premier, along with the Minister for Environment and the Minister for Recreation, Sport and Racing and Surf Life Saving SA, last Sunday to announce the release of this Beachsafe app and between-the-flags patrols. Many people in my community have warmly received this information to assist them to access the beach when it is safe.

In addition, the government is coordinating daily beach clean-ups and has announced free entry to coastal national parks over the summer, sporting club grants—particularly for those that are aquatic sporting clubs—and a mental health support program. The government is also investing in supporting the recreational fishing sector, including support for fishing competitions, promotion of the sector and other initiatives. As a recreational fisherperson myself, albeit a very time-poor and skill-poor one, I understand how many people enjoy recreational fishing and what it means for their wellbeing, and so does the government.

The algal bloom has particularly impacted the commercial fishing sector, along with the tourism and hospitality sectors. The state government has worked side by side with impacted industries, particularly in the fishing sectors. The marine scalefish fisheries' peak bodies, the Marine Fishers Association and the South Australian Professional Fishers Association, have provided advice and guidance to the government on the kinds of assistance needed across their membership, who of course, are some of those most impacted by the bloom.

As a result of this and broader consultation and consideration, extensive support is now in place for businesses across a range of marine-related sectors and those who rely on them, with significant assistance available to fishers and aquaculture businesses. Since the commencement of this support, the guidelines for accessing the assistance have been monitored and changed where necessary and in line with the advice we received from those impacted industries.

The state government understands that impacted industries are doing it incredibly hard, and this is why support on offer often surpasses the kinds of support we have seen during COVID-19. Even with these guidelines in place, the state government recognises that not all businesses will fit neatly into a box in terms of the impacts they have experienced, as it varies between regions, industries, sectors and communities. This is why such care has been taken to explore the individual circumstances of these businesses and ensure every possible piece of information is considered to get as much support to these businesses as we possibly can.

Let's highlight in particular some of the supports for the fishing industry: additional $10,000 small business grants to support that; $125,000 grants to support the aquaculture and fishery industry; fee relief for commercial fishers until July next year; and grants of up to $150,000 for industry resilience and diversification.

In terms of our tourism and hospitality sector, we are extending the Coast is Calling campaign, including 30,000 expanded and extended travel vouchers—which will include the KI ferry, registered Airbnbs and more tourism experiences—and 300,000 dining cashback vouchers. I am lucky to have some of the most fantastic restaurants and cafes in our state in my electorate, such as the Boatshed Cafe, the Marino Rocks Cafe, Nest, the Cove Tavern, the Seacliff Hotel, Cativa Cucina and many others. These businesses, I am sure, will benefit from the vouchers, which will encourage many people to visit our area.

For the benefit of the opposition leader, who, it seems, has come late to this issue, let's talk a bit about the motion in particular. Firstly, paragraph (e) of the motion talks about extending and broadening eligibility for financial relief. This has occurred throughout the period of the bloom, with the criteria for the initial grants changed in line with industry feedback in August, and significant further announcements around financial relief made as part of the summer plan. The second point is:

(ii) increase the fishing licence fee waiver to twelve months;

Fee relief has been in place for the April to June and July to September quarters, and now it has been extended until June 2026. The third point is:

(iii) introduce a tourism voucher scheme to support affected tourism businesses;

A total of 20,000 vouchers were made available in time for the October school holidays and 30,000 more vouchers will be available in early December, as well as 300,000 half-price dining vouchers so that South Australians can support coastal hospitality businesses. The fourth point is:

(iv) release real-time and historical monitoring data;

Guess what? SARDI, DEW and other agencies have worked hard to establish real-time monitoring, and the capability for this has expanded significantly. We are already doing it. That is what is happening in recent months, with water testing results on the DEW website and extensive data available via the algalbloom.sa.gov.au website. The fifth point is:

(v) establish a coordinated rapid-response framework; and

The algal bloom taskforce meets weekly.

The SPEAKER: Member for Black, I draw your attention to the clock. Your time is up.

Mr BASHAM (Finniss) (11:25): It is my absolute pleasure to rise to talk about the algal bloom and how it has been completely mismanaged, particularly in the early days. When I say 'early days', I am talking about the first four months. This algal bloom has been going for seven months in the known world, as we saw the surfers report to social media back in mid-March, and it was not until the Premier came back from school holidays in July that we saw some action finally being taken.

Interestingly, the Minister for Primary Industries, the Hon. Clare Scriven from the other place, made some comments in early July calling on the opposition to stop basically making things up, because at that point in time we were calling for fee relief for fishermen, and she was saying that the industry had not even asked for it. We are fully aware of emails, etc., that had already gone in to that minister requesting fee relief. So, yes, they had already asked for it and, surprisingly, when the Premier came back from leave only a few days later, five days after that report was printed in The Advertiser online, the Premier announced fee relief for the fishermen.

It is really disappointing that the government is trying to spin and tweak the story. We heard this week where the Premier has tried to move away from the word 'toxic' in relation to referring to this bloom. His own scientists have made comments about it being toxic. At the Senate inquiry, a member of the Department of Health who gave evidence to that inquiry referred to it being toxic. That was when we learned that they had previously changed the health advice a week earlier without actually communicating widely to the population, and particularly to asthmatics, the change that was made.

It is really disappointing that that advice was not made clear. When health advice is made, the people who are vulnerable in this space need to know so that they are able to follow that advice. The government was relying effectively on a few journos in a room. That particular press conference was not live streamed, so there was no ability, apart from the two or three journos who were in the room, to pick up that one of the SARDI scientists actually issued a change in health advice. That is not normally where you would hear that from, so this has been a complete mismanagement.

In the last couple of days, since the Beachsafe app has come into play, we have seen the unfortunate circumstance where a local school down on the Fleurieu has cancelled its surf lessons for next week with a surf school based on the advice that was on the app. Amazingly, if you did a little bit of research, dug a little bit deeper and went to the government's website where they have the sampling—which is not a simple thing to read; the general punter is not necessarily going to understand; it is very scientific in its reporting—if you delve into those samples and look at the closest area to where the surf school operates, which is a sample point at the Murray Mouth, the Karenia species count for 6 October, 28 September and 22 September have all been zero.

There has been no algal bloom recorded at that location since mid-September, which is the only data that is up on the site, so you have to go there. However, their app yesterday was reporting foam and discoloured water, which has led to people interpreting, as the Premier stated in question time yesterday, that that is a strong indicator that brevetoxin is present. No, in my part of the world, where the River Murray flows out, that means there is some fresh water in the river water mixing with the seawater and that often looks brown and sometimes creates foam. It is really disappointing we are not getting clear messaging going out there. It is hurting businesses. It is leading to a really problematic circumstance, particularly in my electorate.

As the Premier said on radio, and I agree with him totally, it has been clear for months in our area but the message is not getting out there. I know that local councils have asked for government support to promote that our area is clear. It is certainly not something that has been forthcoming to the local councils, giving them assistance to do this. It is really important that we get this messaging right. It certainly has not been right all the way through from the start. We have seen failure to act for a very, very long time with a four-month delay before the government acted and it only really acted when it reached the metropolitan beaches, which is really disappointing. There were the complaints that the Eastern States were not listening: from my perspective, the issue was that the city was not listening either. The city politicians were not listening and we needed to keep raising it and we need to keep raising it because there are huge issues as well in even the packages.

I have done as much research as I can in relation to the announcements of the new funding arrangements with travel vouchers and dining vouchers, trying to find out what businesses in particular need to do, so I can help my community: I cannot find any detail. There are press releases out there saying it is available but I do not know what the details are. There are dates about how and when people need to apply, yes, but where do they need to apply, how do they need to do it? It is really confusing for businesses.

We have also seen the addition this time around of something I very much support which is the introduction of B&Bs as part of the travel voucher scheme. Accommodation along the south coast in my electorate has been very much based around B&Bs for well over 50 years. There was a real estate agent who built his business on it: Philip Dodd. Sadly, Philip died not that long ago but his business was 100 per cent built from the ground up by entering the holiday rental market and he has been operating that for years. We do not have huge numbers of motels and hotel accommodation that people can use. We rely on B&Bs to have the population turn up to the electorate to support our community. It is really good news that it is there but again there is very little detail about what these people need to do to get their businesses registered going forward. I am sure it will come but it would have been really good if it was up and running.

In the first two hours on Monday morning after the announcement of the new travel vouchers, the government's website still was only talking about the previous vouchers. Even after they had made public announcements, they had not updated their pages in a timely fashion to help people understand. The first people who want to have a look at that are those businesses, and they want to understand what they need to do because they have other things in their business that they need to manage and they need to be out there making sure that their business is being looked after. They do not have time to keep going back and waiting for the government to get the detail right.

So it is really important that we keep pressure on the government to make sure that they actually deliver what our communities need in this space. Sadly, it has been very late in coming. Yes, it is great that there is money on the table for support, but the opposition had been asking months ago for most of the things that have now been delivered by the government. They have had to be dragged and screaming into this space to make sure that they deliver.

Sadly, my community has just had the third lot of school holidays go past without decent support. We are seeing that the criteria for getting the $10,000 grants for those businesses is for them to have a 30 per cent downturn in a three-month period. I suspect there are many of those businesses who would have had a 15 per cent downturn for the seven months. If you do those sums, that is actually more money. They may not have had 30 per cent over the three months but they certainly would have had the same sorts of losses over a longer period of time.

It is really important that the government makes sure they communicate well and make sure they actually get the data out that is accurate, because inaccurate data from the government is the worst sort of data. Yes, there are people out there spreading things on social media that are not necessarily appropriate but we need to make sure the government's stuff is accurate and, sadly, it has not been.

Ms PRATT (Frome) (11:34): I rise to speak to the motion that has been brought to this chamber and moved by the member for Hartley, noting a number of issues that this house notes with concern: the scale and duration of the harmful algal bloom affecting South Australian waters.

It will be clear from the opposition's contribution today that we do not come empty handed to this natural disaster, this coastal calamity. From the early quarter of this year it was clear that there were warning signs happening in our oceans and along our beaches and that a response was going to be required.

It is a glass jaw response from those opposite that they shriek that the sky is falling in and the opposition have contributed to talking down an issue that needs to be talked up and highlighted as the coastal disaster it is, if for no other reason than it was the federal Labor government that had a tin ear to this issue and has been dragged kicking and screaming by the public, by the media, by citizen scientists to get on a plane and come on down to a beach near you in South Australia to see the calamity that has been taking place on our coastal shoreline.

So we have not come empty handed. I think we will wear as a badge of honour the role we have played from opposition, not blaming the government for a natural disaster but challenge this government on its slow response, its flat-footedness to yet another environmental outbreak in a primary industry. We have seen this government take a very slow response to the tomato virus outbreak in the Adelaide Plains in my own electorate. I will touch on that again shortly.

We know that grapegrowers have been affected by drought and frost. We know that our grain producers and livestock growers have also been impacted by environmental factors that hurt their business. Collectively that is our primary industry and it is one of the most significant economic drivers that the Treasurer of the day benefits from when that revenue flows back in. So it is our duty to challenge this government on its disconnectedness from the environment, from its role in responding as the government of the day to pull those levers, as the Premier has said this week, 'Pulling all the levers'. I think they have missed a couple.

We have not come empty handed and in fact we have remained positive, we have remained productive in the suggestions that we have been putting forward and that is evident in no less an example than the successful, popular, productive and proactive initiative of the tourist voucher scheme. We called for that in July because it was our responsibility to put forward a suggestion, not just concern.

This tourist voucher scheme has been validated and vindicated by the response from South Australians. It was a suggestion that we felt would allow South Australians to help South Australians. Separate from grant schemes that are dependent on taxpayer funding, this was going to be an initiative that activated South Australians to get excited about a lottery idea, putting yourself, your family forward for something that you could win. For the 20,000 vouchers available, we have seen the response of 120,000 South Australians in that first round and we welcome the second round.

I put a question to the government yesterday on something close to my heart and embedded environmentally in my electorate of Frome, and that is the Adelaide International Bird Sanctuary. I have written to the minister. Successive environment ministers have been given an opportunity to inform my community, through the task force that this government has established, exactly what progress and what initiatives are being undertaken through the millions of dollars the government is now allocating in its response to the ecosystem that extends beyond the marine life to the migratory birds that feed on that marine life.

We know that there has been a reduction in the fish stock and I continue my challenge to not just the department and the former environment minister but the incoming Minister for Climate, Environment and Water to take seriously the question I am putting to them, regarding the five million migratory birds that fly between Siberia and Port Parham, Thompson Beach. When they land, they are so depleted of energy they are going to die without that food stock, so there needs to be evidence within that task force that there is a plan for preserving the food stock that they are going to be reliant on.

In fact, they have come up with their own campaign, calling the campaign 'Give us room in the bloom' because these birds are so precious and at risk environmentally that any disruption in their natural habitat by humans or dogs, if their food stock is diminished, would put them at further risk.

From a tourism point of view, for many of us, because we represent regional communities with coastlines, it has been concerning to receive so many phone calls from tourism operators around the state, including from the member for Finniss' own electorate, where reports were coming in about jetties that were closed. We knew at the time that regional tourism managers, at least seven out of 11, had given up their post, that there was not a response from the government, that the voucher scheme was a bit opaque at the beginning, that the grant scheme was not going far enough.

The threshold for 30 per cent was a barrier for many. Many, in fact, did not put forward their costings or apply because they knew they would not meet the threshold, only to find through the media that the Premier's own opaque language suggested that the government had some discretionary powers and that maybe 25 per cent or 20 per cent would get you across the line if you made a direct approach. That is not how business operates. The mixed messages that have come from the government are fairly and squarely of their making, and it is for them to look themselves in the mirror, I think, and reflect on their own contribution to this process.

I called in to the Ardrossan Caravan Park and caught up with Shane and Sonja, who at that time were experiencing cancellations well ahead of the summer plan. This was a winter catastrophe. The challenge to the government is that they have had all winter and part of spring to develop their summer plan. It has required three days this week to get the outcome that we have all been waiting for. We are not going to pat the government on the back for doing its job. The question is: what has taken it so long?

From conversations with commercial fishermen like Andrew Pisani and Bart Butson, we know the impact that this algal bloom has had on their business, their industry. If you are a charting operator, you know that the cancellations have come in. Their quotas, their boat licences, their fishing licences have been compromised and those boats are now in dock.

I challenge the government's self-congratulatory approach to investing in establishing a lab testing facility here when it is in fact two strikes and they are out. We saw with the tomato virus that we had no lab capacity through PIRSA and those tests were having to be sent to Victoria for analysis, which meant we had to get in line behind those tomato growers. The same has happened here again. The testing swabs that were taken have been sent to New Zealand. We should not be proud that we are now having to invest money back in our own workforce. It should exist already. I think the public servants in that industry know that and have not been able to make too much noise there.

I want to thank the citizen scientists, the people who have every day been out on our beaches, from Kangaroo Island to the Fleurieu, city beaches to Yorke beaches. They are the people who have come across dead marine life in a confronting way. Young kids have been a part of that, and they are the heroes of this story. I commend the motion.

Mr PATTERSON (Morphett) (11:45): I also take the opportunity in parliament to support the leader's motion that notes with concern the scale and duration of the harmful algal bloom affecting South Australian waters; recognises the ecological damage, including depleted fish stocks, loss of marine biodiversity and long-term risks to coastal ecosystems; acknowledges the severe economic impact on commercial fishing, aquaculture, recreational fishing and coastal businesses, and expresses support for affected families and communities; and also condemns the delayed and inadequate response of the state and federal Labor governments.

When you think about the timelines of this algal bloom that others have spoken about, it first came to the fore for South Australians back in March this year, coming into the Easter period. It affected the member for Finniss's electorate specifically. People were warned, 'Don't go swimming. There's algae in the water.' Hundreds of metres off the shoreline, people reported reactions to their skin from algae. The effects of sea spray that was blown up at the time were felt even at Goolwa football club.

The advice that came out was that we will just wait for a winter storm and it will dissipate. Certainly, that advice from government departments really seems to have caused a bit of a laissez-faire attitude and the government thinking it will all go away and there is nothing to worry about here. What we have seen is that it has not gone away. What became apparent is that the River Murray floods back in 2023 pushed megalitres of water out into the Coorong, which put tonnes of nutrients into the ocean systems. Scientists recognised this and made requests for funding from the federal Labor government, that this needed to be monitored because there was a high potential that the big Murray River floods could manifest into an algal bloom.

At the time, the then environment minister was on holiday during the flooding of the River Murray, the biggest flood since 1956, if I am correct. Again, it speaks to just letting things rip. We found that the effects of letting things rip presented themselves, unfortunately, on the beaches of Glenelg, Glenelg North and Somerton Park in July, when we saw thousands of dead marine animals wash up onto the shores.

Amongst them were so many different species, species that you would not normally see because they are in the gulf. They are not fish. They are just there as part of the ecosystem, and all of a sudden they are being affected by this algae. Of course, we had those southern fiddler rays, one of the bigger marine animals, wash up. Other beaches even had seals and dolphins as well. They were washing up and causing huge concern amongst my community. While it was increasing in intensity, as I said, the state government's response had been slow and fragmented.

I was there inspecting firsthand these marine animals and seeing the devastation. Meanwhile, the Premier was on holiday, of course, presumably enjoying an algae-free beach in the tropics while my community was having this unfold in front of them. I think all of a sudden people began to realise this was a real problem here. The federal government was missing in action. The state government was missing in action. There was a kneejerk response. Obviously, the Premier came back and said, 'We better start doing something.' Murray Watt was summoned to South Australia. He flew in to Adelaide Airport, made the quick taxi ride down to Glenelg North Beach, probably five kilometres. He spent 11 minutes there, packed up and left.

So that was the regard that the federal Labor government had for South Australia. It was disgraceful, and it caused so many questions for my community. My community had many questions, fielded in my electorate office, about what is going on with the algal bloom and what we should do: what can we do, what is happening to my dog, is it safe for pets to walk on the beach, is it safe for my kids to walk on the beach, and should I be swimming?

There were all these questions, and unfortunately there was a sparsity of information. People were bewildered about what to do, and the government was not providing that information. So I hosted an algal bloom community forum in August for my community, to give them information and to provide them access to experts to understand what is going on. I had speakers—including marine biologist Anita, sustainability systems scientist Andrew, tourism operator Tony, and fisher Bart as well—giving different angles on what was going on.

I do note that, a few days before my forum was meant to run, the government quickly put up on social media that they were going to run a forum in Brighton. Their guest speaker was going to be Peter Malinauskas, to manage the message—no experts, just political spin to try to reassure everyone. Well, what was explained in my algal bloom community forum were some serious issues. The experience identified by Anita was that overseas, when these algal blooms get to this size, they really become endemic and that the algal bloom in South Australia is replicating not only by splitting cells but also by reproducing with eggs. So there are two methods, and of course the eggs are sitting there, waiting to come back when the conditions are right, leading to a continuation of it.

As was remarked, the experience in Ireland, back in the eighties, was that there was an algal bloom there for five years. It went away for a bit and then came back in the nineties. That was certainly sobering and really reinforced why this needs to be taken seriously and why it needed to be acted upon early, not just with 'let it dissipate via a winter storm'.

Sustainability systems scientist Andrew said that you cannot have these algal blooms without a lot of nutrients being present; for example, nitrogen. So there is a land management issue as well. He did make a prescient point when he said that algal blooms happen around different parts of the world and that if climate change is blamed as the only reason for this it basically lets governments off the hook. We know climate change is a global problem, and it gives them the opportunity to not put focus on when focus is required. Andrew made the point that algal blooms are treated around the world as local issues and therefore are acted upon locally.

So the government is again seeking to blame others instead of taking action themselves. It really was at this time quite evident that this needed to be declared a natural disaster, yet the government worked on semantics and the like and there was no progress from either the state or the federal Labor governments. The federal opposition leader, Sussan Ley, came to Glenelg South, such was her concern to view this firsthand. She also reiterated the basically quite obvious statement that this needs to be declared a natural disaster. Unfortunately, that has not occurred yet. The federal Labor government and the state Labor government have had to be dragged, kicking and screaming, to the table to give answers.

The federal Senate has instead run an inquiry into the causes of the algal bloom, and this state parliament is also running an inquiry. I attended the hearing that the federal Senate inquiry had at Seacliff to hear from experts there. Also, just recently, we have had a hearing in the South Australian parliament. The hearing here really just showed that the Malinauskas Labor government has dropped the ball and has fumbled its response from day one.

In the meeting it was revealed that the harmful algal bloom was first detected in March but the state Labor government waited until late July to formally request commonwealth government help—a four-month delay that left local communities and small businesses in limbo. Unbelievably, the state Labor government never saw a disaster declaration from the commonwealth government, despite the event being one of the largest marine die-offs in Australia's history.

So there we have just two examples, and there were many more put on the record, of the government's slow and fragmented response to this. South Australians really deserve better. The algal bloom is devastating the coastal parts of the community in Morphett, it is strangling businesses and it is harming locals, while just killing immeasurable numbers of marine life. I will continue to be a trusted local voice for my community, advocating on their behalf in the midst of this natural disaster.

Mr TELFER (Flinders) (11:54): I rise to speak on this very important motion, and I want to especially highlight the impact that this algal bloom and the resulting brevetoxin levels within the water are having on aquaculture businesses, in particular, in my electorate.

I was worried yesterday when the Premier in his answers to questions spoke about the impacts on the oyster industry. He spoke about American River in your electorate, sir, he spoke about Stansbury, but he did not mention at all the impact that this algal bloom is having on the Franklin Harbour, Cowell oyster industry. No offence to those other two that the Premier may know about and has mentioned, but they are insignificant compared to the output of the Franklin Harbour area and the impact that this algal bloom is having on them.

These oyster growers within the Franklin Harbour area have not been able to sell their oysters now for several months and have not been able to move their oysters out of the bay to other areas. For the sake of the chamber, I wish to just let members know about the nuance of the oyster industry on Eyre Peninsula, in that Franklin Harbour is a significant area for growing oysters and there are a number of growers within that area. But it is also a significant nursery area for oysters; that is, oysters spend their early years within Franklin Harbour and then get shifted out to other higher energy, higher nutrient bays across Eyre Peninsula to grow out and get bigger to a point of sale.

Franklin Harbour is a significant aspect of the oyster industry, even above that which comes directly out of their waters. For those oyster growers to have not been able to actually sell or move oysters now for several months, it is having a significant financial impact on not just those growers but the whole of the Cowell economy.

It is having a really detrimental effect and these oyster growers are calling on the government to be proactive in investing in the science which is necessary, because at the moment, with elevated brevetoxin levels within their oysters, they are having to send oyster samples from Franklin Harbour all the way over to New Zealand without the capacity to actually do that here in Australia.

They are waiting somewhere between 10 to 16 days between test samples to actually know whether the brevetoxin levels are high in their oysters or not. They do not even know if they can sell with that delay, that lag that they are facing at the moment. This is a significant issue financially for the people of Cowell and Franklin Harbour and for the Eyre Peninsula oyster industry as a whole.

The government need to be proactive in putting energy and effort into trying to see if there is opportunity to be able to fast-track some of those quick testings that we know are available for other types of Karenia species and also brevetoxins around the world. This needs to be something which PIRSA and SARDI have significant interest and involvement in, because at the moment the oyster growers of Franklin Harbour are really hurting and they do not know when they are going to be able to either move their oysters or sell them.

We also need to put effort into the science to work out at what level the oysters actually purge that brevetoxin out of their system so they know when it can be moved. The government cannot continue to be flat-footed on this; they need to listen to the oyster growers of Franklin Harbour and they need to act and act now.

Debate adjourned on motion of Mr Odenwalder.

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