The South Australian premier has said the state’s algal bloom catastrophe, which has caused mass deaths among hundreds of marine species, should be described as a natural disaster despite the Albanese government declining to do so a day earlier.
Speaking to the ABC’s News Breakfast program, Peter Malinauskas warned “politicians can do themselves a disservice when they get caught up in technicalities”.
The federal environment minister, Murray Watt, announced a $14m assistance package on Monday but stopped short of declaring the crisis a natural disaster because he said it did not meet the relevant definitions under the federal natural disaster framework.
“From the South Australian government’s perspective, I want to be really clear about this. This is a natural disaster … I think politicians can do themselves a disservice when they get caught up in technicalities,” Malinauskas said.
“This is a natural disaster and should be acknowledged as such.
“There are over 400 different species of marine life that have been killed off or have had deaths as a result of this algal bloom.”
Malinauskas said he used the words natural disaster “quite deliberately” but that the disaster differed from other emergencies, such as bushfires, that Australians were familiar with.
“This is so entirely unprecedented we don’t really know how it’s going to play out over coming weeks and months ahead,” he said.
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Watt visited South Australia on Monday to view the effects of the toxic algal bloom that has littered the state’s beaches with masses of dead fish, rays, sharks, dolphins and other marine life.
It followed pressure from the South Australian community for the federal government to offer immediate support for affected places and businesses.
On Monday night, Anthony Albanese said federal funding had been timed “appropriately” given the event was unfolding “primarily in state waters”.
“Events do occur in our environment,” the prime minister told ABC’s 7.30. “What is important is that there be a response. We’re responding, giving support to the South Australian government.”
The Greens’ environment spokesperson and South Australia-based senator Sarah Hanson-Young said on Monday the funding was welcome but “nowhere near what will be needed” to support communities dealing with the catastrophe.
Hanson-Young said the criteria used to declare natural disasters under the national framework should be examined.
As parliament returns, Hanson-Young also said she would push for an inquiry into the disaster to examine issues including the federal and state government responses to the event.
“South Australians have been crying out for weeks and months for federal action on this, so I’m glad to see the federal environment minister finally get to South Australia,” Hanson-Young told the ABC’s Afternoon Briefing on Monday.
She said: “$14m is good but nowhere near what will be needed.”
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