Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Environment and Water) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator Hanson-Young. It is a shame that Senator Hanson-Young is so intent on playing politics with this very serious environmental event. The bit she left out of her question was the fact that when I visited Adelaide last week I announced $14 million in funding from the federal government to support the response to and recovery from the algal bloom. You forgot that little bit. But you're right: I did, while I was in Adelaide, take the opportunity to go and inspect one of the beaches with the member for Boothby, Louise Miller-Frost, who's been advocating very strongly on this issue for some time.

And I was also pleased to see, this week, Premier Malinauskas make further announcements about the joint federal-state response to this event, which included some of that funding, which will go not only towards supporting greater scientific research to understand the causes and effects of and responses to this event but also towards supporting the many businesses who are impacted by this event. I think we've all understood the damage that this event has caused, of course, to the marine environment, which is devastating, as I've said before. We've also seen the terrible impact that it's having on a range of businesses in South Australia, whether they be in the fishing industry, oyster farmers or tourism businesses—and others as well.

So, as a result of the work that we've done, this government is not sitting there throwing stones about this event; we're actually acting to provide the kind of support that South Australians have been looking for. So I'll leave it for Senator Hanson-Young to continue making her political pointscoring about this event. What we're focused on is supporting the South Australian government to respond to the event, and the South Australian government were very clear in expressing their gratitude for the fact that they do have a federal government who's keen to work with them on this event. (Time expired)