Labor defends not calling ‘horrific' South Australia algae bloom a national disaster
A $14m funding request from the state government to combat the outbreak of toxic algae – which became known to authorities in March – was approved by the federal government this week.
The bloom has caused significant damage to a variety of marine life, bringing industries such as tourism and fishing to a grinding halt, and leaving animal carcasses washed up on beaches within an hour of Adelaide.
The Albanese government's response to the algae crisis has come under increasing scrutiny in recent weeks, with Nationals leader David Littleproud accusing Labor of being 'flat-footed'.
Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young has repeatedly called for the bloom to be classified as a national disaster, claiming the response would have been much swifter had Bondi Beach been impacted and that current legislation was not 'fit for purpose'.
'This is a catastrophe, an environmental disaster and an increasingly a community disaster. I am disappointed (Environment Minister Murray Watt) stopped short of declaring a disaster,' she told the ABC on Monday.
Questioned about Labor's response to the algal bloom on Tuesday, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said a 'legislated, formalised list of events' would have to occur for it to be classified as a national disaster.
'That doesn't change the fact that it's an environmental disaster. It doesn't change the fact that all eyes of the nation are on it,' he told ABC News Breakfast.
'That doesn't change the fact that for the people of South Australia, what they are seeing … carcasses washing up onto their beaches, it's absolutely horrific.'
Mr Burke said what mattered was that Mr Watt was 'there on the ground' on Monday.
'The Premier of SA (Peter Malinauskas) made statements as well yesterday. We're working cooperatively,' he said.
Mr Watt said on Monday the funding would be allocated towards both short- and long-term measures faced by South Australians, such as beach clean-ups, community awareness campaigns, and ongoing investment in scientific research.
'There will need to be some further discussions between ourselves and the South Australian government about exactly the details of how that funding is used,' he said.
'The reality is, we are in uncharted waters here.'
Mr Malinauskas said it was important to recognise the unprecedented nature of the bloom, which had ballooned across thousands of square kilometres of ocean.
'We've never seen an algal bloom of this size and scale in the history of our country's coastline … I think it's reasonable to assume that it won't be the first incident of its type in this country,' he said.
'The type of investment that was announced yesterday will go a long way in better understanding how we can prepare and plan for these types of events into the future.'
Mr Malinauskas told the ABC he wanted to be 'really clear' the bloom was a 'natural disaster'.
'There are over 400 different species of marine life that have been killed off or had deaths as a result of this algal bloom,' he said.
'It's been with us for a while (and) it's starting to affect various parts of the aquaculture industry here in South Australia.
'It's always going to be better if we have state and federal governments working collaboratively together and that's very much what Minister Watt demonstrated yesterday, which we welcome.'
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