Scientist who quit algal bloom panels now fighting in state election
The scientist whose bombshell claim that the government is holding off on investigating the cause of the harmful algal bloom until after the election is fighting for a spot in state parliament.
Ecologist Faith Coleman – who spoke out against “political spin” impacting the investigation into SA’s harmful algal bloom – will run with Green-turned-Independent Tammy Franks at the March state election, the duo announced today.
Coleman made headlines in January after alleging in a parliamentary hearing that government staff were told not to investigate the cause of the algal bloom until after the election, a claim the government has repeatedly denied.
She then quit her roles on two government algal bloom panels in January, the Harmful Algal Bloom Scientific Advisory Committee and SA Algae Bloom Reference Group, which she said had been “incredibly liberating”.
“In many ways, we use government committees as a way of quietening community members who are being noisy, and so in the time since I have come off those committees, I’ve spent the time taking samples from lobster boats of upwelling water and doing nutrient samples where people are concerned about the blooms impacting their areas,” she said.
Her announcement comes on the same day the parliamentary committee released its final report into the harmful algal bloom, making 11 recommendations to the state government.
Coleman told InDaily she was not aware the report was being released this week, but that she would like to see the recommendations address “full transparency around the data” and documenting the algal bloom’s causes.
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“I think it’s important that they document the causes of this bloom, so we stop having so many conspiracy theories, because I’m over answering them,” she said.
“And if we have a cause, then we can actually address that cause, and from my work, both overseas and here, I believe that cause to be closely tied to climate change.”
Coleman will run as a grouped independent alongside Franks in what they say is a tactical move, by aligning as independents the pair will appear above the line on the ballot paper for SA’s Upper House, the Legislative Council.
Coleman was “almost certain I won’t win this battle” but “the right thing to do is always the right thing to do, regardless of whether you’re going to win or not”.
Franks – a former Greens joint leader who spectacularly quit the party over allegations of being “undermined” last year – has ruled out starting her own political party, and is vying for the 11th spot in the Upper House.
Coleman said the “media storm” that followed her appearance at the algal bloom committee in January spurred her running to support Franks.
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“I’m a scientist, and I was deeply distressed when Susan [Close, former Deputy Premier and Environment Minister] decided she was leaving politics, and Tammy [Franks] declared that she was intending to, because I like having strong-willed independent women I can go talk to about environmental and scientific issues as well as regional issues,” Coleman said.
“I sat down with Tammy and asked her what it would take for her to run again. She told me that having a running partner would be what that would require, while looking pointedly at me.”
When asked how she would respond to those who would write her off for leveraging her profile after the algal bloom, Coleman said: “Those people who know me have known I’ve done this for a long time. I honestly never sought any need for attention”.
“The whole algal bloom has been a disaster for me as far as business turnover and everything else goes,” Coleman said.
“I’m spending so much time talking about algal blooms, I don’t get paid to discuss the South Australian algal bloom, I didn’t get paid on the committees, I don’t get paid for the work I do with communities, the Yorke Peninsula Council paid me to run a couple of forums, but that’s about it.
“I run a business that restores fisheries and ecosystem health so that these blooms don’t occur, and so that it wouldn’t be seen as a conflict of interest, I have not charged for my work on this bloom.”
“Science not spin” will be a focus of Coleman and Franks’ campaign, with their first public appearance together slated for an algal bloom forum this Saturday alongside lower house candidate for Adelaide, Keiran Snape – Snape is also a staffer in Franks’ office and left the Greens last year.
Coleman and Franks have known each other for about a decade, and Franks said they have worked together “to achieve a Coorong Environmental Trust, to protect the St Kilda Mangroves and to understand better the current harmful algal bloom”.
“Throughout her career, Faith has worked to encourage an informed public space, independent science, full transparency and open debate, believing these things lead to better policies and a healthier democracy,” Franks said.
