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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2025-11-25 Daily Xml
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Algal Bloom

The Hon. T.A. FRANKS (15:22): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before addressing a question on the topic of what caused the algal bloom to the Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development.

Leave granted.

The Hon. T.A. FRANKS: For many months now, the government has advised South Australians in their documentation, online and in print, with regard to what caused the algal bloom, that three extraordinary environmental events have led to this algal bloom. The most recent iteration reads:

1. First, flood waters from the River Murray in 2022-23 flushed large amounts of nutrients into the sea.

2. Second, during the summer of 2023-24, a major upwelling event transported additional nutrients to the surface and pushed them towards the coast.

3. Third, a marine heatwave that began in September 2024 elevated water temperatures to approximately 2.5°C above average.

My question to the minister is: does the government contend that point (1) floodwaters from the River Murray in 2022-23 that flushed large amounts of nutrients into the sea were essential to cause this harmful algal bloom, or were they simply an additional element that has led to this particular harmful bloom?

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN (Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development, Minister for Forest Industries) (15:23): I thank the honourable member for her question. Throughout this, we have talked about the contributing factors as we know them at any given time, and the three aspects that were mentioned by the honourable member are all thought to be contributing factors. I think there has been a number of articles and other pieces of information—or supposition in some cases—in regard to whether an algal bloom can be caused by simply one event. I am not a scientist and so I certainly won't be entering into those particular debates, but I am very glad that there are so many well credentialled people both within government, such as at SARDI, and outside of government.

I think the important thing is that there have been contributing factors to the algal bloom and we continue to learn more and more about the algal bloom as we go forward. We are particularly pleased that we are establishing the national Office for Algal Bloom Research in South Australia, because as a community we have been able to learn a great deal during this event. The event itself of course is incredibly unfortunate and has impacted many people in terms of their businesses, their lifestyles, their livelihoods and, of course, the impact from the environmental damage. We continue to invest in addressing the harmful algal bloom to the extent that we can and to invest in supporting our regional and coastal communities and supporting the businesses that rely on them.

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