‘Lost trust’ over murky algal bloom timeline
Inquiry hears the federal government was not aware of SA’s algal bloom impact until late May, despite its first detection in March. The Premier responds to the murky timeline and delivers the latest bloom update.
Federal environment department officials told the federal Senate inquiry into the state’s devastating algal bloom on Wednesday they were not aware of the impact of the devastating algal bloom until the end of May despite the issue emerging months beforehand.
But it took until July 11 for Environment Minister Murray Watt to be formally briefed on the bloom, about two months after he was appointed minister and one month after he attended the United Nations Ocean Conference in France.
Inquiry chair Senator Sarah Hanson-Young was “shocked” to hear the timeline, especially after other submissions raised observations of the bloom much earlier.
“There were indications that this bloom was in full flight at the end of last year,” she told InDaily.
“Tens of thousands of dead marine life and fish have been washing up on South Australian beaches, including in the city and our suburbs and the metro beaches.
“The Federal Environment Department seemingly was asleep at the wheel.”
Fishers working in Robe said they raised alarms to the Marine Fishers Association who notified authorities as early as February, with media reports increasing in March with sightings of fish deaths and toxic foam on SA beaches.
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On March 25, professors from Sydney’s University of Technology confirmed the culprit was the planktonic algae called Karenia mikimotoi after testing water samples sent by the SA government.
Former environment minister Tanya Plibersek was also warned about potential algal blooms in October 2023.
Asked on Thursday morning about the delay to escalate the issue to the federal minister, Premier Peter Malinauskas said Watt was across the issue “far earlier than July”.
“I obviously am not party to the briefings that are provided from the federal department to the federal minister. What I know is that the federal minister was actively engaged with the South Australian Government Minister far earlier than July,” the Premier said during the weekly algal bloom update.
The Premier also said updated testing results showed around 70 per cent of SA’s coastline was now unaffected by algal bloom but the metropolitan beaches were still suffering.
“Parts of the coastline that were affected by the algae no longer are, particularly around the southern Fleurieu, think beaches like Goolwa, Victor Harbor, Waitpinga, the algae bloom, of course, started to originate in Waitpinga,” he said.
“But in metropolitan it still continues to persist.”
In a statement related to the delay in informing the federal government about the bloom, a state government spokesperson said the then-state Environment Minister Susan Close spoke to Murray Watt in May, shortly after his appointment to the federal environment portfolio, but state and federal agencies were responding to the bloom together since March.
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Agencies, including SA’s Environmental Protection Agency, SA Water, SA Health and the federal Bureau of Meteorology and CSIRO were said to be on the job throughout the federal election caretaker period from March 28.
The spokesperson said Close contacted Watt on May 12, the day he was appointed to the portfolio, to discuss SA’s environmental issues, including algal bloom.
“At that stage, scientists were advising [the bloom] was still likely to dissipate with a break in the season,” the statement read.
“As the scientific advice changed, the South Australian and Australian Governments worked in close collaboration to deliver a significant $28 million support package to respond to this unprecedented event.”
Hanson-Young said it was still a slow uptake, which degraded community trust in the government.
“It points to a lack of urgency and serious concern from the state and the federal government and how long it took them to swing into action,” she said.
“People just lost trust, they feel like they’ve been forgotten, they feel like they’ve been ignored, and they feel like they’re not really getting the support they need,” she said.
The Senate inquiry has heard emotional testimonies in the past few weeks, including fishers sharing they had not had a catch since Easter.
Liberal Party senator Leah Blyth said in the Senate hearing yesterday that the months-long gap was problematic.
“That is hugely problematic, and a huge gap in communication where we’ve talked about this data sharing,” Blyth said.
“The delayed response has certainly led to poorer outcomes for all of the businesses that the chair has been talking about, and aquaculture and reputational risk.”
The inquiry will hand down its recommendations in October.
