The need for desalination to water-proof Eyre Peninsula has never been disputed, despite many years of inaction by SA Water.
As the algal bloom rages on without any end in sight, and is tipped to reappear, the part desal plants just south of Adelaide and Kangaroo Island play cannot be dismissed.
The government’s claims of “look away, nothing to see here” are mystifying.
Since early this year, the Lonsdale desal plant has come into full operation, producing 300 million litres a day for the first time since being built in the late 2000s.
The massive amounts of hypersaline water, plus the cocktail of toxic chemicals needed to clean the desal filters, are pumped into Gulf St Vincent hourly.
What effect does this have on a marine environment already stressed by the bloom? Or did this stress the marine environment to allow the bloom to start and then rage out of control?
SARDI/PIRSA/state government has no answers.
Several eminent Australian marine scientists, plus credible international papers, point to the dangers and high risks of desal plants discharging into shallow areas with poor water movement.
Some choose to say “desal discharge cannot be proven as having any connection with the algal bloom”.
In this case, SA Water/state government, as the polluters of desal discharge, need to prove by accredited independent science that it is not, and aquaculture and fishing will not be affected.
Until this can happen, all work at the planned desal plant in shallow Boston Bay, Port Lincoln, should cease immediately.
The risks to Port Lincoln, Eyre Peninsula, and the state are far too high.
Glen Ingham, Port Lincoln
Council’s non-response
Recently I received our 2025 council rates notice from the City of Port Lincoln.
It reminded me that I haven’t had any kind of response from them regarding an issue that I raised with them on the 30th of January.
At that time I was advised that someone would ring me regarding the issue.
The issue, which is traffic related, is still occurring and I’m still waiting for that phone call.
Robert Fox, Port Lincoln
What happens in Gaza does not stay in Gaza
America may be perceived as a ‘friend’ by some in Australia, but this is not the story across the world.
The belligerence, bullying and threatening behaviour practised by present and past US governments are resented by many in the global community.
American support for Israel along with that of other Western countries and organisations (European Union for example) has aided and abetted the genocide that is happening in Gaza and the expanding Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
Israeli IDF spokespersons and members of the Israeli Knesset have no shame in telling lies as distinct from the truth.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu boldly stated: “There is no starvation in Gaza”, whilst images relayed across the world speak the truth.
In the Israeli parliament in recent days right wing parliamentarians and settler groups held a conference titled ‘The Gaza Riviera from Vision to Reality’, outlining potential development plans for Gaza once the Palestinian people are removed.
Whilst this is happening Jillian Segal, the special envoy appointed by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, released her report compiled to address the causes of antisemitism in Australia, with not a passing reference to what is happening in Gaza today and Israel generally.
Her report is a call to action for the monitoring of antisemitism in schools, universities, workplaces, public gatherings, newspapers, the media, etc., with what many people consider to be draconian consequences for those who do not comply.
What is of great irony is that some in the Murdoch press who vociferously opposed the Indigenous Voice to Parliament via the 2023 referendum, support the powers Gillian Segal would be given to monitor the nation if her report is endorsed by the Labor Government.
Racism and bigotry are abhorrent in all forms, but we cannot pretend that we live in a vacuum.
What is happening in Gaza undermines any of the progress we may have made in promoting international norms for a better world.
I understand how former prime minister, the 100-year-old Dr Mahathir Mohamad felt when he stated that he is appalled at the deterioration of human rights across the world, and states in regard to the suffering in Gaza, “I hide my face away”.
In regard to the lack of real action to condemn Israel with our Prime Minister Anthony Albanese basically batting away the issue, he and Gillian Segal should be alert to the words of Gideon Levy, the great Israeli journalist, who commented: “What happens in Gaza does not stay in Gaza.”
Kathy Bradley, Louth Bay
Desal needs to be stopped
After reading the report from the real experts regarding the reasons BHP could not build the desalination plant at Fitzgerald Bay and other places, surely someone in Port Lincoln can bring a stop to the desalination plant and have it sited at Tulka.
How do we get an injunction on the government regarding this plant poisoning the bays?
I know we need the water, but we also need our bays to be kept safe.
The report on the Whyalla plant BHP was going to build evidently stopped – I wonder if anybody in government read this.
The report can be seen at austlii.edu.au/au/other/SAHAStaCERD/2009/1.pdf
Call on the fishing and rec fishing groups to help stop this happening.
If the government had abided by the limitations in this report they would realise how much there is at stake, like BHP did.
Once these bays are filled with the discharge from the plant there will be no turning back.
Jim Calderwood, Port Lincoln
Time to think about those doing it tough
August 4 to 10 marks Homelessness Week in Australia – a time to take a moment to think about those in our community who are facing some of the most challenging circumstances and realise that it may be affecting people that we don’t expect.
The Salvation Army is one of the largest providers of homelessness services in the country, and in our over 140-year history in Australia, we have seen it all.
We support over 8000 people every month across Australia who are experiencing homelessness, but what can sometimes shock me more than these numbers is the individual stories behind each person that reaches out to us for help.
We have seen people reach out to our homelessness services who have been donors to the Salvos in the past.
We have seen people who are perceivably ‘well off’, but due to one unforeseen personal crisis like a family member falling ill, they have slipped into homelessness.
Recently, we have started to see increased numbers of women and children reaching out to us.
In fact, one in seven people who reached out to us for homelessness support this year have been children under 14. This breaks our hearts.
Homelessness isn’t just sleeping rough on the streets. It manifests in a number of ways, like couch surfing, staying in emergency accommodation or sleeping in your car.
In a recent survey of people who reached out to the Salvos for financial support, one in five (19 per cent) had couch surfed or lived in their car at some point in the past 12 months.
That is why, this Homelessness Week, we want to shine a light on what homelessness really looks like in Australia.
At the Salvos, we want to encourage people to reach out to their friends and family, notice the signs, and know where to go if you or someone you know is experiencing homelessness.
And where can you go? The Salvos are a great place to start.
The Salvation Army are here for those experiencing hardship, including those at risk of or currently experiencing homelessness. We don’t judge and don’t discriminate.
It has been our privilege to come alongside Aussies in their time of need for the past 140 years, and we look forward to doing so in the future.
If you or someone you know needs support from The Salvation Army, please visit salvationarmy.org.au
Commissioner Mark Campbell, The Salvation Army
