Interview with James Glenday, ABC News Breakfast

JAMES GLENDAY, HOST: Well, let's bring in the Environment Minister Murray Watt, who I think was listening to the back half of that interview. Murray, welcome back to News Breakfast. Thanks for joining us for the second time this week.

MURRAY WATT, MINISTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT AND WATER: No worries, James. Good to be with you.

JAMES GLENDAY: I'm not sure how much you heard of that chat with Mark, a local Indigenous elder here, but he compared the environmental damage to watching Uluru be destroyed before his eyes. Can I just get you to respond to that?

MURRAY WATT: Look, there's no doubt whatsoever, James, that this algal bloom has had a very severe environmental impact on the coastal waters of South Australia. We've already seen, it’s very likely that we're talking about 400 species that have been very severely impacted. Not just fish, not just shark, not just rays, but kelp, the sort of food sources for these marine animals as well. So, there's no doubt whatsoever that this has been a very severe environmental event, and it continues to be.

JAMES GLENDAY: You've asked for a review to see whether some of those species that have been continuously washing up need to be added to the threatened species list. Do you expect that's going to be the case, or is this really a matter of just trying to get a handle on where things are at?

MURRAY WATT: No, look, I think from the reports that we've seen so far, James, as I say, there's no doubting the severe impact that this event has occurred. Every year, the Federal Environment Minister has the opportunity to ask the Threatened Species Committee to consider whether particular species should be listed as endangered or critically endangered or vulnerable. What I've asked this year is for the Threatened Species Committee to also particularly consider what impacts there have been on species that have been affected by the algal bloom, and to consider whether any of those species should be listed in that way. If the Threatened Species does consider that particular species are now vulnerable or threatened or critically endangered, then that would then trigger a range of responses from government in the form of conservation plans and things like that. So, I guess, as I think I said to you the other day, James, one of the challenges we've got here is that this is an unprecedented event. No one is enti

JAMES GLENDAY: In your statement that you released early this morning, there's a comparison to the damage done by the Black Summer bushfires. There's been a lot of debate on the ground, as you know, about whether or not this should be called a natural disaster. Was that reference an indication that you do actually see this event as disastrous, comparable in some ways to a massive, massive bushfire?

MURRAY WATT: Well, as I've said, James, there's no doubting whatsoever that this is a very severe environmental event. The analogy with the Black Summer Bushfires is that, to my knowledge, that's the last time a federal minister asked the Threatened Species Committee to consider the ecological impacts from a particular event. On the natural disaster declaration, and as you say, I realise that there's been many calls for that to occur. Really, when you think about it, this event is much more like a drought in the sense that it's a long running event, it builds up over time, we're waiting for weather conditions to intervene before it ends. And that's quite different to what we think of as natural disasters being those rapid onset events like floods and cyclones and bushfires that tend to come through an area, leave a trail of destruction and then move on. That's not the kind of situation we're dealing with here. And that's why we've come up with a support package that is probably a bit more like how we respond

JAMES GLENDAY: Just before we let you go, Minister, you offered an apology on this show on Monday. Do you expect the PM to offer similar words to South Australians when he visits? And is he likely to come with more funding?

MURRAY WATT: Look, I won't speak for the Prime Minister, James, but certainly I know that he is intending to be in South Australia next week and I'll be accompanying him. That'll be the third time in around a month that I've been in Adelaide and South Australia to inspect and understand this. Today I'll be getting another briefing from the scientists. I met with some of the scientists who were involved in this research yesterday. I'll actually be inspecting the algal bloom offshore with some of those scientists and undertaking water sampling. I want to make sure that as the Environment Minister, I'm providing the best possible advice to the Prime Minister and to the Cabinet about how we can continue to support South Australia deal with this event.

JAMES GLENDAY: I just want to press you just on that slightly. We just had Rebekha Sharkie on the show. She said this was less than half of the value of a roundabout that's being built with federal money in her electorate. Are you likely to come with more support for businesses and more support for scientific research next week?

MURRAY WATT: Again, I'll leave it for the Prime Minister to make those sorts of decisions about what we do. But I don't think we should lose sight of the fact that this has been a very substantial investment by both the Federal and South Australian governments. When I was the Emergency Management Minister visiting flood-stricken parts of South Australia, there were comparable amounts of funding that were being provided. So, at the moment, there is still money on the table from that support package. But we've said previously that we'll obviously consider any request we receive from South Australia to support them in any way they need.

JAMES GLENDAY: All right. Environment Minister Murray Watt we do appreciate you making time for us again here on News Breakfast.

MURRAY WATT: Thanks. No worries, James.