00:00Well, it's been pretty normal in South Australia along the beach to come across discoloured
00:07foam. Sometimes there are mounds of algal foam blowing into the air. The advice over
00:13the last couple of months, the official health advice, has been that this poses no extra
00:18risk to people with asthma. But the Senate inquiry has heard that advice was wrong because
00:24a harmful brevitoxin has been detected. Now health authorities are recommending that people
00:29should carry medication if they're asthma sufferers on beaches with foam. But Gemma,
00:35it's raised questions around the government's testing regime because it only did this further
00:40testing when an unusual amount of foam appeared on Henley Beach just a few weeks ago. Here's
00:47what SA Principal Water Quality Advisor David Cunliffe had to say.
00:51That information has just become available in the last one to two weeks. There was an
00:55announcement about the detection in the foam last Thursday. So that's quite recent.
01:02The inquiry also heard from scientists urging marine surveys and ongoing monitoring. They
01:09say that this is underfunded. The inquiry yesterday also heard from First Nations leaders, Naranjeri
01:16Elder Mark Kulmatri, who spoke about the emotional toll the algal bloom is having on First Nations
01:22communities unable to use the water for healing. Now Gemma, the inquiry will be in Port Lincoln
01:29today. And as part of that, there'll be an open mic section where members of the public
01:33will be able to walk up and have their say before the inquiry travels to Ardrossan and Victor
01:40Harbour later this week.
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