Members of a key federal senate inquiry committee have delivered a unanimous, damning, 207-page report that is critical of the state and federal government’s handling of the harmful algal bloom.

It claimed there was a delayed response, a shortfall in monitoring data and failings in providing early health advice.

The federal inquiry into algal blooms in South Australia heard evidence from more than 130 people, which showed gaps and delays in health advice over respiratory risks from March 2025.

Reports came from surfers and residents along the Fleurieu Peninsula who had reported “itchy eyes”, including surfer Anthony Rowland, who claimed to have first “raised the alarm”, saying he knew “something was terribly wrong”.

Ardrossan commercial fisher Michael Pennington told the inquiry of bec

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