I’ve just returned from South Australia, on the traditional lands of the Kaurna, Ngarrindjeri and Narungga People, where a devastating algal bloom is wreaking havoc on nature, communities and businesses.
The algal bloom, a rapid increase in an algae called Karenia mikimotoi, is caused by an ocean heatwave mixing with nutrient polluted flood waters – both supercharged by burning fossil fuels.
While we were there, the Federal Environment Minister Murray Watt came to town, announcing $14 million to assist South Australia to grapple with the ongoing disaster.
But after nearly five months of devastation, nothing is being done to address the causes. The Albanese government is still approving coal and gas projects and hasn’t yet delivered on its long-promised national laws to protect nature. Here’s why the algal bloom is South Australia backs in the need to do both.
How the algal bloom is impacting nature and people
You don’t have to travel far to see the death and destruction wrought by the algae blooming in South Australia’s waters.
My colleague Tom and I witnessed some disturbing scenes, including a dead dolphin washed up on the beach at Carrickalinga, about an hour’s drive from Adelaide. The bodies of crabs, leather jacket fish and puffer fish littered the white sand, and an opaque grey foam sat stubbornly on the shoreline, covering the rock pools of the otherwise spectacular Fleurieu Peninsula.
This is a place that brands itself as being “made by nature”.
As distressing as it was to see the dead marine life and sick coastlines, just as affecting was hearing firsthand the way the algal bloom disaster is harming people.
South Australians like Nathan Eatts, a sixth-generation pole and line fisherman from Normanville told us towns like his rely on nature.
“Our country towns rely on tourism, on the beaches, on the ocean being healthy and fish stocks being healthy.”
But the ocean isn’t healthy. Nathan hasn’t caught a single squid since the 18th of April, and life as he knows it has come to a standstill.
“It’s horrible for everyone’s mental health. I wake up at three in the morning thinking, when’s this all going to end? When can I go back to work and get some normalcy?”
His source of income has disappeared, but the bills keep coming.
This sentiment is echoed around the other side of the Gulf of St Vincent, where we met fisherman Bart Butson in his hometown of Port Wakefield.
Like Nathan’s, Bart’s is a small business. His grandfather and dad fished before him, and now he works with his son. There are no trawlers, no big boats, just an Australian family making a living.
Bart says protecting nature is “of the utmost importance”.
“Without healthy nature, we don’t have much. Healthy marine ecosystems are the basis of my livelihood. It’s emotionally distressing when it’s unwell.”
His community in Port Wakefield is doing it tough.
“We’ve seen dying sea life, reduced catches, and certain species disappear. The coastal communities are depressed.”
While Bart is grateful the Federal Government has finally started to pay attention to the catastrophe facing South Australia, he hopes they’ll investigate its causes.
“We’ve heard from scientists it may be due to the ocean's temperature being two degrees warmer. I’m hoping they can try and investigate and help with those issues...I hope the authorities in Canberra don’t forget us.”
Bart’s friend and fellow fisherman, Andrew Pisani from the southern tip of the Yorke Peninsula, has seen the worst of the algal bloom for more than 80 days.
His community at Stansbury is experiencing firsthand the ecological and economic devastation it has brought. Devastation that the federal government is refusing to declare a ‘national disaster’.
“Our fish was probably the best in Australia. But the algal bloom has moved across the seabed and covered the whole lot. The fish death is incredible” Andrew told us.
“We’ve seen our main species washing up on the shore...garfish, King George whiting. The birds, dolphins, sea lions...there’s just animals everywhere.
It’s infected the whole community, loss of income for starters. All businesses are down over 50 to 60% now. It’s very concerning.
Like many in South Australia, Andrew knows the local situation is a symptom of a much bigger set of problems, and he believes the federal government should “step in and step up”.
“With the floods in Australia, the nutrients have run down through the River Murray and impacted South Australia. Nutrients have poured into the sea and with the higher temperatures of the water, it’s made a huge impact.
Australia needs to stop burning fossil fuels straight away. The impact of what it’s done is horrendous.”
He’s right. And South Australia’s wildlife, wellbeing and marine-based economy is at stake.
Recreational fishing in the state is estimated to generate $1 billion in economic activity.1 Its seafood industry generates $440 million2 every year and tourism to witness the annual cuttlefish aggregation pours $17 million into the regional city of Whyalla alone.3
Protecting nature needs to be at the centre of Albanese’s agenda
Since I returned from South Australia, scientists have published a report detailing seven actions to address the algal bloom, which they call a crisis “driven by human activities”.
The good thing about human activities is that we can change them.
To prevent further catastrophes like the one facing South Australia, the Federal Government must stop approving coal and gas projects, and it must place the protection of nature at the centre of all decision making.
This isn’t just a moral imperative, it’s an economic one. As Treasury Secretary Ken Henry recently said at the National Press Club, single biggest threat to Australia’s future productivity comes from the destruction of nature.6
One way to ensure that nature is protected is to create national and enforceable laws that stop unacceptable impacts on threatened plants, animals and places.
These stringent laws must be administered by an independent agency of experts (not a government with vested interests) and be used to assess whether projects get the go-ahead. Australians must feel confident that what’s being built and created in this country won’t worsen the ongoing nature and climate crises we’re seeing play out in South Australia.
As ministers of the Albanese government forge ahead with their productivity agenda, we need to remind them that nothing they’re hoping to achieve will come to fruition without nature’s ability to support it. The environmental and economic crisis currently playing out in Australia is testament to this.
Soon, senior ministers will hold “productivity roundtables”.
They will focus on three main themes:
Making our economy more productive,
building resilience, and
making Australia’s budget more sustainable.
Genuine progress on these themes can only be made if we embed nature into decision making and ensure that protecting nature is at the centre of our economic transitions. Many people is South Australia can testify that when nature suffers, our lives and livelihoods grind to a halt.
In the lead up to the roundtables, we have an opportunity to urge Albanese and his senior ministers who are hosting these events to position nature as Australia’s economic superpower, and to create rigorous and lasting national laws that protect the forests, reefs and rivers we all, including our prosperity, depend on.