16-07-2025
Greens demand PM act on toxic bloom
Anthony Albanese is being pressed to declare a toxic algae bloom, which has crippled South Australia's coastline and plunged seafood industries into peril, a 'national disaster'.
The naturally-occurring but harmful algal bloom has plagued the state's beaches for months, killing marine life and plunging the seafood industry into crisis.
Reports have emerged of dead fish, rays and sharks washing up along the metropolitan coastline – including North Haven between the river mouth and marina breakwater, Tennyson Beach, north of Grange jetty, and south of Christies Beach Surf Life Saving Club.
Several mussel farming sites around the Port Lincoln area have also been shut after shellfish toxins were detected in the area. Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young has called on the Prime Minister to respond to the growing algae bloom 'disaster' in South Australia. NewsWire / Martin Ollman Credit: News Corp Australia
Greens senator Sarah Hanson Young has says the bloom is a 'national disaster' and therefore required a 'national response'.
She called on the Prime Minister and federal Environment Minister Murray Watt to visit Adelaide and 'take some action'.
'If this was happening in Bondi, or on the North Shore in Sydney, the Prime Minister would have already been on the beach, talking to concerned locals and the affected industries,' Senator Hanson-Young said on Wednesday. Reports have emerged of dead marine life washing up along areas of SA's metropolitan coastline. Stefan Andrews / Great Southern Reef Foundation Credit: Supplied More than 200 marine species have been recorded as dead due to a toxic algae bloom in South Australia. Supplied Credit: News Corp Australia
'But today, we've had virtually nothing from the federal government.'
South Australia's flagship fisheries patrol vessel Southern Ranger has been deployed to inspect the bloom and help authorities understand its impact.
Senator Hanson-Young, the Greens' environment and water spokeswoman, said this should have been happening 'weeks and weeks ago' – pointing out SA's fishing and tourism industries were being 'smashed'.
'Our environment is dying, and our community is alarmed,' she said. The algae bloom was first detected in March. Supplied / Great Southern Reef Credit: Supplied
'This is the climate crisis unfolding before our very eyes, and South Australia can't handle it on our own.'
Senator Hanson-Young said she would be moving for a federal inquiry into the crisis when parliament resumes.
In their latest update on Wednesday, the SA Department of Environment and Water said the algae – known as Karenia mikimotoi – had been detected in the Port River.
Elevated levels were found by authorities along the metropolitan coastline, while 'very high' levels were at the Garden Island and Outer Harbor boat ramps.
It was first detected on the Fleurieu Peninsula in March. The bloom quickly spread to other waterways after it was detected in the Fleurieu Peninsula four months ago. Stefan Andrews / Great Southern Reef Foundation Credit: Supplied
'State government agencies are taking weekly water samples at 17 sites across West Lakes, the Port River, the Patawalonga River and the end of four jetties at Largs Bay, Grange, Glenelg and Port Noarlunga,' the department said in their update.
The South Australian opposition has already called for a royal commission to explore the origin and consequences of the algae and what could have been done to manage the situation, the ABC reports.
Authorities believe a marine heatwave in September last year could have contributed to the bloom.
Flooding in the Murray River over 2022 and 2023 washing extra nutrients into the sea, or an unprecedented cold-water upwelling over the summer of 2023-24, may also have contributed.
The last large event of this type of algae recorded in SA was at Coffin Bay in 2014.
Karenia mikimotoi is not known to cause long-term harmful effects in humans but exposure to discoloured or foamy water can cause short-term skin or eye irritation and respiratory symptoms.
