The harmful algal bloom engulfing our coastlines and killing marine life is the biggest environmental catastrophe in our state's history. From the outset, the Greens have been advocating for action to protect coastal communities and our natural environment.
The Greens are calling for:
- Dedicated research, monitoring and environmental remediation to better understand the scale and cause of the crisis to prepare for the next one. This will go alongside a better public information campaign and warning system.
- Adequate funding of emergency services that cover all environmental disasters, including water pollution. The Greens are pushing for the state government to commit $200 million over four years to protect our marine ecosystems, including $4 million per year to rehabilitate marine wildlife after the bloom has dissipated
- Compensation to support workers and communities that have and will continue to be impacted by the harmful algal bloom.
In May 2025, as the crisis began to unfold, I moved a motion in Parliament calling on the State Government to include funding for research and remediation in its State Budget.
In September, I secured a Joint State Parliamentary inquiry into the harmful algal blooms. This inquiry is considering the factors that caused the bloom to occur and spread rapidly as well as its economic impacts its effects on community health and wellbeing. It is also scrutinising the State Government’s response to this crisis, including public communications and support and recovery arrangements, and what steps that we may take to prevent a catastrophe like this from ever occurring again. You can read more about the inquiry here.