The Hon. Vincent Tarzia, Leader of the Opposition; The Hon. David Basham, Shadow Minister for the Environment, Joint Media Release, 12 October 2025

Businesses and families financially impacted by the harmful algal bloom have been left wanting by the State Government’s most recent announcement on how it plans to keep our beaches open during summer.

Leader of the Opposition, Vincent Tarzia, said today while the move to increase the presence of surf lifesavers on our beaches was welcomed, businesses facing financial ruin or hardship due to the algal bloom outbreak were desperate for more information – including increased government support.

“While our lifesavers do an outstanding job keeping our beaches safe, algae doesn’t swim between the flags,” Mr Tarzia said.

“How are our lifesavers going to inform the public whether the beach in their area is safe? How do they intend communicating if the flags on their beach are up or down,” he asked.

“How are our lifesavers going to know if the water is safe – or if the foam is simply from a storm or windy conditions?”

Shadow Minister for the Environment, David Basham, said the Government has once again gone off half-baked – and questioned what criteria was used to select only eight beaches across the metropolitan areas and our regions for the seven-day-a-week coverage.

“Where is the Government’s full Summer Plan? Simply drip-feeding information to the public doesn’t help anyone,” Mr Basham said.

“We’re now almost halfway through October and the government still hasn’t released the full details of its Summer Plan,” he said.

“Meanwhile businesses are going to the wall, people’s health continues to suffer and the futures of our commercial fishers remain in doubt.

“Businesses and livelihoods across the state continue to be impacted by the harmful algal bloom – and people want to know what this Government plans to do to help them.”