South Australia is grappling with one of its worst marine disasters as a harmful algal bloom, stretching across 500 kilometres of its coastline, has been devastating ecosystems for at least five months.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese confirmed he will travel to South Australia next week to see the damage firsthand.
“I'll be there next week. I had a discussion with [South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas] over the weekend,” he told ABC Breakfast News on Aug. 12.
Albanese pointed to the combination of nutrient flows and abnormally high sea temperatures as key drivers of the crisis.
“This isn’t something that’s the fault of any government, it’s something that is a consequence of those nutrients and those high water temperatures which are there ... [and] well over what is normal for this time of the year,” he said, noting the conditions were having “a very real impact.”
He added that a range of environmental pressures was having an effect “right around” the country and said there was a need to deal with both the immediate consequences and “the long-term issues that are coming as a result of climate changing.”
