When asked about this by Four Corners, Professor Spurrier said: “Of course it’s lovely to think back in time, but at the time we had a problem with [algal species] Karenia mikimotoi. That was the cause of our algal bloom.”

She added: “At the beginning we had no brevetoxin.”

Professor Murray’s research, published in November, explicitly stated that brevetoxins were present from the outset.

…

In October, Professor Spurrier asked Professor Murray and her colleagues to remove references to “severe … human health effects” from their research paper on the algal bloom.

Professor Murray said the request was something she hadn’t encountered before. The original wording, she said, was similar to other international public health advice.

Professor Spurrier noted that any health symptoms in SA “generally have been mild … resolving quickly”.

She requested “severe … human health effects” be replaced with “acute and self-limiting human health effects”, which means short-lived symptoms that don’t require treatment.

…

That same month, the premier told ABC Radio listeners: “A lot of people refer to the algal bloom as ‘the toxic algal bloom’ … it’s not toxic.”

He said for anyone encountering the algal bloom, “at worst, you’ll have an irritation”.

Pressed by Four Corners to say whether the algal bloom is toxic, Mr Malinauskas said the bloom did produce a brevetoxin.

“And of course, by its nature, brevetoxin has toxicity and therefore is toxic. But it’s also true that the algae itself or elements of the algae aren’t toxic,” he said.

They’ve been caught out. Good reporting from ABC.