Interview with James Glenday, ABC News Breakfast

JAMES GLENDAY, HOST: For more on this, I want to bring in now the Federal Environment Minister Murray Watt who joins us from Parliament House in Canberra. Murray, welcome back to News Breakfast.

MURRAY WATT, MINISTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT AND WATER: G'day, James. Good to be with you.

JAMES GLENDAY: Now, Murray, one of the questions that a lot of the locals have put to us here is they want to know why it took so long for the Federal and State Governments to respond to the crisis. Were you too slow to act?

MURRAY WATT: Look, I accept that South Australians think that Governments were too slow to respond to this event, and for that I apologise. What we were doing, though, in the run up to that was working very closely with the South Australian Government for weeks. First of all, to try to understand this event because it is unprecedented, we are in uncharted waters as to how to deal with it and what support is needed. But when the South Australian Government made its request of us, we turned that around within 24 hours. And that's why we' provided half of a $28 million funding package to support the businesses who are being affected, to undertake more science and research, to make the community aware of the event and what its consequences are, and also to clean up the beaches. So, it's good that that money is starting to flow, but I accept that people felt that we were too slow. I've been down there myself to inspect the beaches and I'll actually be coming down to Adelaide again this week to see it again and to meet with some of the businesses who are affected. So, I can assure South Australians that the Federal Government is very much engaged and actually was for quite a period of time.

JAMES GLENDAY: I won't labour the point on this, but if this had happened in the Gold Coast, if it had happened off Manly or Bondi or Port Phillip Bay in Melbourne, would the response have been faster, do you think? Would there have been more national media attention on this?

MURRAY WATT: Well, there may well have been. I mean, I'm not responsible for what the national media decide to cover, James, but certainly from the Government's point of view, we have been taking this matter seriously. I think there was an expectation that weather conditions would intervene to disperse this algal bloom at a much earlier stage, and that hasn't happened. And it is absolutely devastating for South Australians, and I think all Australians to see the kind of damage that we're seeing. And the mere fact that you've got your colleagues in various different locations in South Australia today demonstrates the scale of this issue. But we do want to make sure that people are getting the support that they need and that we're investing in the science and research that's necessary to understand this event in case we face something similar in the future.

JAMES GLENDAY: I did want to just go to that, Minister, if it's all right. We're pretty familiar with how to prepare for fires and floods in Australia. Do you expect that, as the climate changes and perhaps the water stays warmer for longer off places like Kangaroo Island, are we going to see more of these algal blooms? Is that an increasing risk?

MURRAY WATT: It's certainly an increasing risk, James. You would be aware that it's very likely that one of the contributing factors to this event is the marine heat wave that we are seeing in many parts of the world at the moment. It's having an effect there in South Australia, we're also seeing bleaching events as a result of marine heat waves in a number of our reefs and reefs right around the world. So, unfortunately, this is a reality of climate change and it's a reminder of why we need to take more action on climate change. But we also need to be investing in the science so we can understand the sorts of conditions that we are going to be facing as a country as climate change intensifies. And again, that's why we are investing several million dollars along with the South Australian Government in that kind of scientific research.

JAMES GLENDAY: There's a lot of concern here that essentially people don't know what's going on under the water because different fish species don't seem to be affected, whereas some are washing up in pretty large numbers. Is the Australian Government doing any work with, say, the United States, places around the world that have faced similar heat waves and similar algal blooms in recent years?

MURRAY WATT: Yes, certainly there have been discussions at different levels of government, with international colleagues to understand similar events that have occurred. We've also seen these types of events in New Zealand, and in fact, we've seen similar events in Australia in the past, but nowhere near as severe as this one. So, those sort of discussions are occurring. But as I say, our primary focus has been trying to deal with the event that we're facing now. Providing that financial support to people who are being affected, undertaking that scientific research, cleaning up the beaches and making sure the community is aware of what the issues are that we're facing and how they can make sure that they deal with them best to avoid becoming affected by the event.

JAMES GLENDAY: Just one last one on this, if you don't mind, Minister. We've been speaking to fisher people, tourism operators, local communities, and there's just this level of nervousness about what spring and summer might bring, particularly if it increases the bloom. I'm sure they'll appreciate you coming here this week. Is there a message you'd like to deliver to them this morning?

MURRAY WATT: Well, certainly the message I can deliver to all South Australians is that the Federal Government is very much working closely with the South Australian Government to ensure that we can support South Australians through this event. Right throughout this event, from the beginning of it, we've made clear that we're very prepared to support the South Australian Government, who do have lead responsibility for responding to the event and will remain engaged. I've continued to stay in contact as recently as this weekend with the South Australian Minister, Susan Close. That will continue. Our officials are working together. I know that there is a lot of concern about what this event might mean for spring and summer. With any luck, the weather conditions will intervene and disperse this before then. But if that is not the case, then we will be continuing to work very closely with the South Australian Government and the South Australian community to deal with this event as best we can.

JAMES GLENDAY: Just before I let you go, Minister, I wanted to ask you about one other issue. A lot of ideas are being put out ahead of the Treasurer's economic summit. Is it time, in your view, for drivers of electric vehicles to pay a road user charge?

MURRAY WATT: Well, I wouldn't want to jump ahead of any sort of decision making that's going to occur around that, James, but it's no secret that we've said previously that we'll be working with the states and territories on this matter. There's obviously some reporting about that today in some of the newspapers. You'd be aware that there was a High Court decision which really raised this issue front and centre, and ever since then we've been working with the states and territories. But it's probably a little bit premature to be saying exactly what will occur.

JAMES GLENDAY: All right. The Federal Environment Minister, Murray Watt, we do appreciate you joining us on the program this morning.

MURRAY WATT: Thanks, James.