Interview with Nikolai Beilharz, ABC Adelaide Drive

NIKOLAI BEILHARZ, HOST: Well alongside the immediate needs of responding to the algal bloom, there is of course also a focus on the future as well. The Federal Government today has announced plans to try and improve marine heatwave outlooks. To explain that to us, Murray Watt, the Federal Minister for the Environment and Water, joins you. Minister, thank you for your time.

MURRAY WATT, MINISTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT AND WATER: No worries, Nikolai, good to talk again.

NIKOLAI BEILHARZ: So what's changing and does this fit kind of under the $28 million of co-investment funding that was announced between the State and Federal governments recently?

MURRAY WATT: This is actually a separate commitment that we're making as a Federal Government, Nikolai. It's something we've been working on for a little while now across a range of agencies like the Bureau of Meteorology and the CSIRO. But obviously it's got relevance to South Australia now as you continue to experience the algal bloom. So, this is separate to the $28 million joint package that we've funded with the South Australian Government. But as you said in the introduction, it sort of responds to the real desire from South Australians to have better forward-looking information about the kind of marine conditions we're going to be experiencing, whether it be while we continue to deal with this algal bloom or into the future, regardless of that event. So basically what we're looking to do during this summer is to make available to the public longer-term forecasts of ocean temperature extremes so that industry, communities, scientists, have got more visibility of what looking at in terms of extreme ocean temperatures over a three-month horizon. So rather than sort of just going day to day and understanding what the temperature is, it will give all of those types of groups who've got an interest in knowing what's going on in our marine environment much better visibility from three months in advance so that people know what to expect.

NIKOLAI BEILHARZ: And so, is that the primary change, access to information or is more money actually being invested in things like infrastructure, more temperature probes being installed to collect more data?

MURRAY WATT: Yeah, well I guess some of that extra work will be funded through the joint package that we're funding with the South Australian Government. As you may recall, the South Australian Government has said that it's likely to spend around $9-10 million of that $28 million investing in more science and research and monitoring. So obviously it's a matter for them to decide how best to use that money given that they're closer to the ground. But certainly, from the discussions we've been having, it's likely that that will include extra monitoring work. What I'm sort of talking about today is something different to that. Which is really as I say, more about making that information that some of our agencies hold publicly available. It's obviously very useful for Federal Government agencies to understand what the three-month forecast is in terms of ocean temperatures. But there's a lot of other people out there who want to know that kind of thing as well and make their planning around that sort of information. So that's what we're seeking to make available through this tool.

NIKOLAI BEILHARZ: And who are those people? I mean, is it the average punter thinking, ‘do I go down to the beach today or not?’. Or is it more aimed at the commercial fishing sector, at scientists, the like?

MURRAY WATT: Yeah, I think, look, I think given the intense interest across the South Australian community about the conditions being experienced at the moment, I think we will find that the average person is interested in getting better information about what lies ahead. But we certainly think that groups like the fishing industry, scientific researchers, will have a very direct interest in understanding what those three-month forecasts are. It will enable, for example, commercial fishing operations to make some decisions about their future activities, rather than having to make those sort of decisions in a bit of an information vacuum. So, I guess what this is really about is about building on that joint package that we’ve funded with the South Australian Government, which as you say, is mostly focused on the short term needs; the industry assistance that's being funded from it, the scientific research. But also looking across government about how else can we better prepare ourselves as a nation for these types of events in the future.

NIKOLAI BEILHARZ: And do you see that by making this change it's primarily linked to potentially predicting future algal blooms, or is it broader than that?

MURRAY WATT: I guess it probably will be useful, particularly for scientists to be able to pick up some of those warning signs at an earlier stage. I mean, I'm not a scientist, so I wouldn't want to speculate about exactly how they would be able to use this information. But I think we all understand that one of the primary causes of the event that South Australia is going through right now is the heat wave - the marine heat wave -  that's being experienced. And I would imagine that if scientists have got access to this kind of information about what we're looking at in two and three months' time, then that might be able to provide some further warning signs and enable all of us to be much better prepared than we have been this time. Because of course, this has been a very unusual, if not unprecedented, event. You know, what we're trying to do across the board in government is work with the States to make sure that we are much better prepared for all sorts of weather conditions and natural disasters in the future. And this investment is another example of that.

NIKOLAI BEILHARZ: What have you been told about how accurate these forecasts will be? Because obviously, you use the parallel of weather forecasts from the Bureau; out to seven days is pretty accurate, but beyond that it can become more difficult.

MURRAY WATT: Yeah, look, I think we all understand that the further away the forecasts are made, they lose a little bit of reliability. But I guess I compare it to where we're at the moment, which is that we don't have this information available to the public at all. So, even if it's not, you know, 100 per cent accurate on Day 100 of that three-month forecast, it's certainly going to be a lot more accurate than what we've got at the moment. To draw you a sort of analogy, some of you listeners may remember that every three or four months, a report is published by fire authorities about where we're expecting to see extreme fire risk in the coming bushfire season. And that gives again, people an opportunity to get prepared for the sort of circumstances that are likely to arise. I suppose I sort of see that that as a little bit similar here. It's about empowering people with information so that they can do the planning they need. Fishing businesses, as I say, may adjust their operations. Others may do the same. It's all about trying to make sure that people can be as best prepared for these types of events as we do see a warming climate. 

NIKOLAI BEILHARZ: And Minister, a question more broadly on the response to the algal bloom and the recent funding package announcement. I'm sure you will have heard the State Government has announced specific funding packages of up to $100,000 for commercial fishers, shellfish farmers and the like who've had their trade shut down. Are you looking at any further funding in addition, above and beyond that for those in the commercial fishing industry?

MURRAY WATT: Well, obviously the grants that are being provided to small businesses and some of those fishing operations are at least partly being funded by the contribution that we have made along with the State Government. We've made very clear to the State Government for quite some time that we're ready to support them through this event, however long it takes. Obviously, that funding has only just been made available and hopefully will be hitting the deck with people as soon as possible. But look, if this event continues to go on for some time to come, we'll remain supportive of the South Australian Government's efforts. I'm still in regular contact with the South Australian Ministers. In fact, I spoke to Susan Close, the Environment Minister, today. So we want to make sure that we're being as supportive as we can. But, you know, I think we all hope that this event will disperse at some point, well and truly, before we hit the summer.

NIKOLAI BEILHARZ: Murray Watt, Federal Minister for Environment and Water, thank you for your time this afternoon.

MURRAY WATT: Thanks, Nikolai.