Anthony Albanese confirms visit to South Australia over toxic algal bloom

Anthony Albanese will visit South Australian communities smashed by a sprawling and unprecedented algal bloom following weeks of criticism that the Federal Government had been slow in its response to the unfolding crisis.

Confirmation of the trip comes just the day after Environment Minister Murray Watt apologised for the Government’s sluggish response, which could devastate coastal communities and businesses preparing the summer tourism season.

The toxic bloom has rapidly spread across several beaches on the state’s coastline, and while the algae is not harmful to people, it’s resulted in the death of rays, fish and marine life.

The Prime Minister shared the news on ABC radio on Tuesday, stating he would head to the state “next week” following discussions with state Premier Peter Malinauskas.

He added that the Government was “very concerned” however said the disaster was the “consequence” of warm water temperatures and not the “fault of any government”.

“This is the consequence, of course, of nutrients flowing into the water and the temperature of the water being well over what is normal for this time of the year, and it’s having a very real impact,” he said.

“There are a range of environmental factors happening, unfortunately too many, right around Australia at various times, and a lot of my focus is on dealing with the consequences of that but also dealing with the long-term issues that are coming as a result of the climate changing.”

Greens environment spokeswoman Sarah Hanson-Young has led calls for Mr Albanese to visit South Australia following reports of the out-of-control bloom in July.

As it stands, the Greens have established an inquiry into the federal response to the bloom and whether considerations for a declaration of a national disaster, which the algal attack did not satisfy, should be changed.

“As chair of the inquiry, I will focus on making sure that we use this inquiry to amplify the voices of scientists, affected industries and the local South Australian community,” she previously said.

“We need governments at all levels that will act to take climate change mitigation and adaptation seriously. This is not a far-off future problem, the crisis is here and now.”

Speaking to ABC radio on Monday, Senator Watt acknowledged the Government’s response had not met community expectations.

“I accept that South Australians think that governments were too slow to respond to this event, and for that I apologise,” he said.

“What we were doing, though, in the run-up to that was working very closely with the South Australian government for weeks.”

However he said there was “an expectation” that weather condition would help “disperse this algal bloom at a much earlier stage”.

He also said the event was “unprecedented”, which left the government in “uncharted waters”.

Senator Watt also warned the algal bloom was a “reminder of why we need to take more action on climate change”, with the marine heatwave contributing to the algal bloom in South Australia and coral bleaching in reefs.