Interview with Matthew Pantelis, 5AA Adelaide
MATTHEW PANTELIS, HOST: We’re going to get right into it this morning with the algal bloom, because on the line the federal Environment Minister Murray Watt joins me now. Minister, good morning.
MURRAY WATT, MINISTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT AND WATER: Hi, Matthew. Good to talk to you again.
MATTHEW PANTELIS: Thanks for your time. I see you’ve sent somebody from Canberra to have a close-up look at what is going on here in South Australia. There have been so many calls for this to be declared a national disaster, what’s been happening. We hear this morning algae in the Port River now and all the way up to Dock 1. Port Lincoln, seeing reports of it over there. Oyster farmers on the York Peninsula affected. This is really having an impact here in South Australia. What has taken so long?
MURRAY WATT: Well, first, Matthew, can I just recognise this is a very serious event, and I recognise that it’s causing a lot of harm to South Australians, whether we’re talking about the environmental impact, the economic impact and, of course, it’s impacting emotionally on people, it’s taking an emotional toll. I think everyone is sad – extremely sad – to see the impact that it’s having there. And I also understand that people want it to be over. I keep asking ‘is there anything at all we can do to end this algal bloom?’. And, of course, the advice is that we can’t. But in the meantime, what we’ve been doing is working very closely with the South Australian Government for some time to see how we can support them in this effort. The reality is that the algal bloom is contained within State waters, within 3 nautical miles of the coast. So the State Government does have primary responsibility for managing this, and I know that they’ve done everything they can to manage it. But we’ve been very clear with the South Australian Government, I’ve spoken to Susan Close several times, our officials have been working with the department In South Australia for weeks, if not months. So we’ve been very clear that we’re prepared to support South Australia in managing this, even though it is a matter within State waters.
MATTHEW PANTELIS: All right. What can be done? What needs to be done now? What’s the person you’ve sent supposed to do
MURRAY WATT: Yeah, well, as I say, we have had officials, and I personally have been in touch with our South Australian counterparts for some time. But my view was that it would be helpful to have a senior official from my department on the ground, both to see what further support we could provide the South Australian Government and also ensure that I have the best possible advice from my department about this as well. That official was in Adelaide yesterday, is there again today, you know, conducting inspections, meeting with the relevant departments. And I guess what we are trying to do is work through what support could the Federal Government provide if the South Australian Government asked.
You know, we know that there are economic impacts that are going to need to be considered. There is going to need to be some work done around environmental recovery. I think one of the challenges here, though, Matthew is that if this not an unprecedented event, it's a very rare event. And I think one of the challenges that everyone has, whether it be the South Australian Government, Federal Government, industry, is understanding what the impacts actually are and what they’re likely to be, and how we move forward once this event hopefully ends.
MATTHEW PANTELIS: All right. There’s reports today in the paper here from Stephan Andrews, who’s a marine biologist. I spoke with him just on Monday. He’s been diving off around Ardrossan and other places up and down the coast – that’s on the York Peninsula across from Adelaide – and he says it’s going to take forever for marine life to return. He says crustaceans, things that were around, for instance, jetty pylons in the water that have built up over, you know, a century and a half have now all gone. They’re dead. There’s nothing there. He’s saying it’s going to – if forever, perhaps they’ll never come back, but if they do it’s going to take absolutely years.
MURRAY WATT: Yeah, I saw those reports this morning. I read the paper this morning myself, Matthew, and saw those photos, and it’s devastating to see what impact this is having, just as it’s devastating to see the impact that it’s having with wildlife washed up on the beaches. And I know that’s having a huge impact on South Australians. So, as I say, I think one of the challenges here for all of us is to understand exactly what the impacts are now, but also in the longer term. And as we understand those impacts, that will help us work out what can be done going forward. There have been, as I say, some preliminary discussions with the South Australian Government around what that might look like. But as that science that they’re gathering becomes clearer, we’ll all have a better idea about what can be done. But I can certainly assure your listeners that we’re taking this seriously. We’ve been engaged for some time about that to see how we can support the South Australian Government. We all want to see those beautiful beaches returned to the state they’re normally in. We want to be able to see recreational and commercial fishers be able to get back to what they’re doing, divers, and we want to see all those incredible species returned to health. So, however we can support the South Australian Government we’re very happy to consider that. But unfortunately, this is not something that’s going to be solved overnight.
MATTHEW PANTELIS: All right. What is what you’re looking at look like? Because you say you’re waiting for the science to determine what path to take. Well, that could take weeks or even months. And in the meantime, you’ve got industry suffering, shellfish farms closing around Port Lincoln, oyster farms closing at Stansbury and other places. It’s affecting a lot of liveli – I mean, forget about the fact that minister here, the Environment Minister Susan Close says we may have to consider if it continues closing beaches over summer for swimming, for goodness' sake, we’ve got people whose livelihoods are at risk. So what does federal aid look like, whenever it comes?
MURRAY WATT: Well, certainly we would hope that the weather conditions would intervene between now and summer to disperse the algal bloom-
MATTHEW PANTELIS: Yeah, we can keep our fingers crossed, though. And all very well and good, but something needs to be put down in concrete. And we need it sooner than later.
MURRAY WATT: Yeah, and I guess the point I’m making is that, you know, we all hope that it won’t have those impacts over summer, but those are things that are outside anyone’s control – it’s dependent on the weather. But, as I say, in the meantime there are some productive discussions underway. I’ve seen that the South Australian has started providing some financial support, particularly to the fishing industry. And, you know, there are those discussions happening about what could be done in the short term to assist people, but also what could be done in the longer term in terms of environmental recovery.
So those discussions are happening. We’ve made very clear to the South Australian Government as well that we are prepared to support them. As I say, they do have primary responsibility for managing this event, and they are doing that. But where we can support them as a Federal Government, we’ll do so.
MATTHEW PANTELIS: So OK your person here will report back and then what happens, you’re still waiting on science presumably?
MURRAY WATT: Oh no, I guess what I’m saying is in terms of the longer term environmental recovery particularly depends on what the science has to tell us. But, you know, I’ve been speaking to a number of our South Australian federal ministers and MPs this week as well about what we could be doing. I’ve already had a briefing from that senior official who’s down there and I’ll be having another one today. We’ve had all of our Federal Government departments working together to start preparing for what support may be available to South Australia. And I have no doubt this will be discussed amongst ministers when we’re back in Parliament.
MATTHEW PANTELIS: OK well, Minister – and I say this with the greatest respect to you – this phone conversation seems to be a pat on the back for what you’re doing now, but people are looking for solutions and you’re not really offering anything. I understand you’ve got to wait for reports and find out but, as you say, possibly unprecedented. We don’t know how long it’s going to take to clear. And you’re not really offering anyone anything.
MURRAY WATT: Well, I certainly am not seeking to give myself or anyone a pat on the back other than the South Australian Government for managing a very difficult situation. And, I guess, you know, I also commend the work that industry, environmental officials are doing to try to deal with this situation. It is an unusual situation. We don’t have a clear roadmap for how we deal with something like this because we haven’t been seeing this kind of events before. But, as I say, you know, before we can offer support, we need to understand what sort of support is required, and that is becoming clearer. So I hope that we’ll have some answers about that soon.
MATTHEW PANTELIS: All right. Let me read you some texts; you can answer them as we go. Joanne says, “as Environment Minister, why don’t you come to South Australia to have a look for yourself?”.
MURRAY WATT: Well, as I say, I’ve been in regular contact with the South Australian Environment Minister and all of our departmental officials have been working with their South Australian counterparts. The reality is this is an event that is taking place in State-controlled waters and Federal Governments don’t typically blunder in and try to take over in situations that are in State-controlled waters or lands. They’re best managed at the local level, which is why the South Australian Government is leading this response. But I couldn’t be clearer that we’re working with them to see what support we can provide as a Federal Government.
MATTHEW PANTELIS: Andrew has sent me photos of dead dolphins. He says, “Seacliff and Marino beaches, the Government says listen to the scientists. Well, they told us dolphins won’t be affected by the algal bloom as mammals, yet they’re now dead. Dolphins washing up on our beaches because of the bloom. You’d understand why people aren’t believing the science.”
MURRAY WATT: Well, I’m not sure – I’m not aware of any claims by scientists that dolphins wouldn’t be affected. I haven’t seen that myself. I mean, this is obviously having a really widespread impact on marine life, whether we’re talking about mammals or fish or kelp. It’s devastating. And again, those photos are there for everyone to see in today’s ‘Tiser. So I think the science is clear that it is having a devastating impact. The science is clear that this event is at least partly caused by climate change and the warming waters that we’re seeing - just as we’re seeing, unfortunately, coral reefs around Australia and around the world being bleached because of temperature rises in the sea. So, you know, this is why we need to take action on these things. But in the meantime, we need to see how we can support people who are going through this right now, because I absolutely accept it is having a devastating impact on many, many people and the environment in South Australia.
MATTHEW PANTELIS: All right. Now, David Penberthy from here at FiveAA and News Limited as well has written an article saying, “If dead fish were washing up on Bondi Beach, you’d be all over it.” Catherine has texted in similarly saying that, “If dead fish had been racking up in the eastern states you would be everywhere.” Not true?
MURRAY WATT: No, look, I’ve seen those reports, and I absolutely understand that that is the feeling in South Australia. That’s been coming through loud and clear. And certainly, some of our South Australian Federal Labor MPs have been making that point and pointing out that that's how people feel in South Australia. I think that’s a reflection of the seriousness of this event. It’s really disturbing for people. But, as I say, we haven’t been sort of doing nothing; we’ve been working with the South Australian Government while respecting the fact that they are in charge of this and that they are doing everything they can to manage the event. So, you know, people will make their own minds up about the response, but, you know, we may not be, you know, out there every day doing press conferences, patting ourselves on the back, but we have been working very closely with the South Australian Government.
MATTHEW PANTELIS: All right. Financial support, is it under consideration?
MURRAY WATT: My understanding is that late yesterday the South Australian Government has made a request in terms of the support for the fishing industry. I haven’t seen that myself – that’s no longer my portfolio. But if that is the case, we’ll obviously take a look at it-
MATTHEW PANTELIS: You need to do more than take a look, don’t you, though, really?
MURRAY WATT: Well, the point I’m making is that I’m not the minister who received that request. So, you know, I’ve been in contact with that minister. We will be looking at that request. It only came through late yesterday, but, you know, there are discussions happening about what the economic impacts are, what would be the appropriate response from the South Australian Government and what room there would be for the Federal Government to respond as well. So those discussions are happening. I recognise that people might have liked to have seen that happen earlier than now, but they are happening. And I’m sure we’ll have more to say about that before too long.
MATTHEW PANTELIS: Murray Watt, appreciate your time. Thank you.
MURRAY WATT: Thanks, Matthew.