Senate Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Legislation Committee, , 3:38:14 to 3:41:40
Senator Rustin questions the department on the severity of the algal bloom in South Australia and challenges the state government's public messaging regarding the bloom's existence.
Topics: Algal bloom, Fisheries, Water management
Speakers: Speaker 28, Speaker 12, Speaker 1
>> Oh, well, I'm still stuck on the damn
thing. Nearly 21 years. >> The coalition of the party of rural and regional Australia.
>> That was always been our focus. >> That wasn't the case. >> Slipped a little bit recently, but
>> but here on Tuesday back together might be the case by Friday. I can assure you that Senator Kavan and I and the rest of our colleagues are >> absolutely together. Um can I just ask some questions around the algo bloom that is um impacting South Australia.
>> We'll get colleagues to come to the table. Yeah. But um you can start with
me and I'll I'll do my best. Yeah. >> Um there was um there's been obviously quite a lot of um media reporting about the the algo bloom and its activity over um over recent weeks. Um, and I was just wondering, um, uh, the premier of South Australia, and I'll I'll quote what he said, uh, where he was asked on, um, the Monday, Australia Day, Monday, um, uh, when he was asked if the government strategy was to play down the algoloom ahead of South Australia heading to the polls on March the 21st. And Mr. Malinowskis accused the media of driving fear into the community. Uh and he also made the comment that um the the Alg Bloom doesn't exist in the majority of metropolitan Adelaide um and that he then went on to say it basically doesn't exist. So I was just really keen to understand does the federal government um either the department or the minister share the optimism of the South Australian government that the hour will bloom basically doesn't exist.
>> Uh Senator certainly not going to comment on the premier's um remarks. Um, I guess what we understand the situation to be is that um that the bloom itself is is kind of moving and changing and and the waters that it's impacting um are shifting and changing as well. So, so that's our understanding of I guess the status of the bloom at the moment. >> So, at a high level.
>> Sure. Um, yeah. So, clearly you don't think it basically doesn't exist. Um so I'm just keen to understand what is your view about what is actually um happening in terms of the severity of the bloom. Are you monitoring it at the moment?
>> This would be I mean we're probably um senator happy to talk about I guess kind of the fisheries impacts as we understand them. Uh the the bloom itself um in terms of the comwalth side of the equation the work is being led from >> DQ. Um so um certainly directed questions there for any sort of detailed questions around impact. We do understand that um there are continued impacts on fisheries and I'll ask my colleague to talk further about those. Um, and obviously from our perspective and through Aphma as well, we're monitoring, I guess, the movement of the bloom and um and and potential fisheries impacts that that might ensue. But we can go to impacts on fisheries. Well, I