Algal Bloom

Last Friday, we heard an extraordinary admission from those opposite in relation to South Australia’s algal bloom crisis. The member for Adelaide and its beaches said that he accepted criticism that this has been a bit slow, and that the best time to have done this would have been some weeks ago, maybe even a few months ago. So why didn’t they act sooner? Why did those opposite ignore the advice from scientists for 18 months? Why didn’t they act when marine creatures started washing up dead on beaches four months ago? The scientists warned those opposite. Now, 14,000 marine creatures have died, and seafood and tourism industries have been decimated. The Minister for the Environment and Water was on the record claiming that it was a state issue, only to then backflip on his comment. Talk about a wet fish situation!

He dashed down to Adelaide to get the obligatory social media content on the beach with those dead sea creatures and announced a minuscule funding package three days later. This government is on the go slow when it comes to the environment and environmental policies. They know it and they’ve admitted it. Australians should be deeply disappointed about how this government ignored scientists and local businesses. To those opposite: shame on you.