Federal Government Announces $8.5 Million Package for South Australia Algal Bloom Crisis
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Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced Wednesday an $8.5 million federal funding package to combat South Australia's unprecedented algal bloom, which has devastated the state's fishing and aquaculture industries for six months.
The funding includes $4 million in direct grants to local governments dealing with the crisis, $2.25 million for targeted scientific research and the creation of a new "significant ecological event program" under the Regional Investment Corporation to address future environmental disasters.
"This is an event that has occurred because of the runoff, firstly, from the Murray, the flooding events that occurred in other parts of Australia flowing through, and the combination of the nutrients then flowing into water, which is hotter than usual," Albanese said during a visit to an Adelaide laboratory facility.
The algal bloom, which spans South Australia's coastline including Kangaroo Island, represents what officials describe as an unprecedented environmental crisis never before seen in Australia's history.
"We have never seen anything like this before in the nation's history," South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas said. "But we have to have the wherewithal and capability to respond and respond quickly."
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The crisis has particularly impacted the state's shellfish industry, with oyster farmers unable to harvest their crops due to brevitoxin contamination from the algae. Previously, testing for the toxin required sending samples to New Zealand, creating costly delays for the industry.
A key breakthrough announced Wednesday involves Adelaide-based bioanalytical company Agilex, which will establish Australia's first brevitoxin testing facility. The new capability, funded through the federal-state partnership, will reduce testing times from weeks to days.
"Currently when we are testing within our shellfish, particularly oysters, for the brevitoxin, which is a product of at least some form of the algae, that testing has to take place in New Zealand," Malinauskas explained. "Through this funding that the Prime Minister has made available, we are now standing up an Australian first, a brevitoxin testing regime right here in Adelaide."
Steve Wesselingh, representing Agilex, said the company approached the state government four weeks ago after an employee spoke with affected pipi farmers about the crisis.
"We had an employee here four weeks ago come to work after a weekend talking to a pipi farmer, talking about how catastrophic the bloom has been for their business," Wesselingh said. "And we were talking amongst ourselves saying, well, we could, with our global capability and what we do, we could do those tests here."
The new testing capability is expected to be operational within four to six weeks, significantly faster than the typical 12-month timeline for such programs.
Mike Geddes from the South Australian Research and Development Institute said the local testing will enable more comprehensive research into the bloom's causes and effects.
"The fact now that we've got a laboratory on our doorstep to rapidly undertake analysis of the brevi toxins that are accumulating in our oyster, cockles and mussel aquaculture is fantastic because it's going to absolutely streamline our delivery on a weekly basis," Geddes said.
The funding breakdown includes $2 million to enhance monitoring and data collection of marine heat waves through CSIRO's AquaWatch water quality system and $250,000 for algal bloom research through the National Environmental Science Program.
This announcement builds on a previously announced $28 million joint state-federal funding package to address the crisis.
Albanese acknowledged the bloom as a "significant ecological event" but stopped short of declaring it a natural disaster, which would trigger different federal funding mechanisms.
"This is not a bushfire or a flood," Albanese said when asked about natural disaster classification. "There's very specific decisions made by NEMA to recommend to government. That's why it's not a political decision."
The algal bloom has created what scientists describe as a complex, multifactorial environmental problem driven by climate change impacts. The Prime Minister linked the crisis to broader climate challenges affecting Australia.
"That is why we take these immediate measures including the funding that's been provided for this work to be conducted here jointly as part of our $28 million funding jointly from the South Australian Government and the Commonwealth going forward," Albanese said.
The government is developing contingency plans for summer, when the bloom could intensify and affect beach access across Adelaide's metropolitan coastline.
"I'm of the view that it's becoming increasingly likely that the bloom will be here in some form, at least during spring and potentially summer," Malinauskas said.
However, health authorities maintain the bloom does not pose a significant public health risk to humans, with any effects being temporary rather than lasting.
"All of the public health advice, all of the scientific advice says that that won't be necessary because even when the algal bloom is at its worst, any impact it has on humans is temporary by nature and not lasting," Malinauskas said regarding potential beach closures.
The Premier emphasized the unprecedented nature of the crisis requires new approaches to environmental disaster response.
"It's unprecedented. We have never seen anything like this before in the nation's history," he said. "But we have to have the wherewithal and capability to respond and respond quickly."
Albanese defended his government's response to criticism about delayed federal action, noting he has visited South Australia six times this year and nearly 30 times during his tenure as Prime Minister.
"I have been to South Australia, I reckon, more than any Prime Minister over the period of just over less than three and a half years," he said.
The algal bloom continues to impact marine ecosystems along South Australia's coast, with similar environmental events occurring at Ningaloo Reef in Western Australia, which officials attribute to changing weather patterns linked to climate change.
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