Internal South Australian government emails released under Freedom of Information laws show public servants were repeatedly told to strip the words 'harmful', 'outbreak' and 'disaster' from official communications about the marine algal bloom that has decimated fish stocks across both gulfs.
The documents, released to the Liberal opposition, drop into a politically awkward moment for the Malinauskas government, which has just imposed a total closure on calamari fishing across Gulf St Vincent and Spencer Gulf and tightened rules on garfish and King George whiting.
Among the records were suggested edits to government-funded advertorials. The edits requested 'outbreak' and 'harmful' be removed and 'disaster' be replaced with the more neutral 'event'.
One email from the Department for Premier and Cabinet, sent in August 2025, asked for 'harmful' to be dropped from the official 'Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB) situation update page'.
"We were wondering if the name of the page could be updated as the campaign's objective is to reassure the community and the use of the word 'harmful' is a bit alarming. People could interpret this as being harmful to their own health," the email said. "If we could update to Algal bloom update, it would align with the campaign messaging and have a more neutral tone."
"Some suggested minor tweeks [sic] and also incorporating the bizarre advice from coms to drop 'harmful'," the email read.
A different email instructed colleagues to standardise the new tone. "I'd just remove 'harmful' in the version for service providers to match how proactive comms appears to be referring to algal bloom," it said.
Liberal environment spokesperson Nicola Centofanti, who received the documents, said they confirmed long-running suspicions.
"Time and time again, we have seen this government more focused on PR than people and more focused on spin over substance and I think the people of South Australia are getting pretty sick of it," Centofanti said. "Ultimately, South Australians have so many questions about the algal bloom that need answering."
She again called for a royal commission into the response.
Premier Peter Malinauskas, asked about the FOI documents at a press conference, said he was bemused.
"I don't know why anyone would contemplate doing that," Malinauskas said. "Particularly given that I and other senior members of the government have been very clear about the fact that the algal bloom is the harmful algal bloom. We've been consistent about that."
The FOI release lands while recreational anglers and commercial operators are still digesting the May 1 calamari closure. Gulf St Vincent fishers have publicly warned the fishery 'would be horrendous to reopen' before stocks rebuild. For them, the documents read as proof that the public messaging consistently lagged the reality on the water.
The Premier has insisted the bloom itself is now 'effectively clear' from almost all testing sites, but the political fallout from how the disaster was communicated looks far from over.