Overview
- $48 million will support coastal economies through business grants, fee relief and marketing, alongside 300,000 $50 dining cashbacks and 30,000 travel vouchers worth up to $500.
- Science and environment measures total more than $37 million, including $20.6 million for seagrass and native oyster reef restoration and $17.3 million for real-time monitoring and research.
- New initiatives include a $3.2 million Office for Algal Bloom Research and a $1 million trial of AI submersible cytobots to improve detection and forecasting.
- Public-safety steps funded at $16 million add daily Surf Life Saving inspections at eight popular beaches, Beachsafe updates for 23 locations and daily metropolitan beach clean-ups.
- The bloom has affected roughly 30% of SA’s coastline and killed thousands of marine animals, and scientists say the drivers remain uncertain even as some local recovery signs are reported.