A federal body that supports drought-stricken farmers will expand its operations to support those impacted by "significant ecological events" like South Australia's devastating algal bloom.
But Nationals leader David Littleproud says the prime minister's decision to use the Regional Investment Corporation (RIC) scheme to pay for the new program would reduce funds for farmers.
"The Nationals are not against funding to fix the algae bloom problem in South Australia – in fact, we support it – but Labor should not be taking funding from the RIC," he said.
Visiting Adelaide on Wednesday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced the funding but did not provide details.
"It's very clear that slow onset events like marine heatwaves and algal blooms will continue to impact our natural environment, communities and businesses," he said.
"What we will do is work with the minister for agriculture, who's been working closely with relevant stakeholders to extend the operations of the RIC and improve those operations."
The algal bloom has killed tens of thousands of marine animals since it was identified off the Fleurieu Peninsula in March, and has since spread along some of SA's coastline.
Mr Littleproud said the RIC was specifically for farmers, including those experiencing drought hardship.
There was $4.057 billion left in the RIC pool of funding, and of that, $3.62 billion had been settled in loans, plus there were new applications in the pipeline after a busy start to the year with new drought help, he said.
"Our farmers should not be the ones who always miss out whenever there is an environmental disaster," he said.
Mr Albanese also announced that in addition to the existing $28 million algal bloom package, further federal measures included $4 million for local government grants, $2 million to enhance monitoring and data collection of marine heatwaves, and $250,000 for algal bloom research.
He told South Australians "the federal government stands side by side with you" and that support would be provided as requested.
Asked if he would acknowledge the algal bloom as a natural disaster, as it was described by Premier Peter Malinauskas, Mr Albanese said the government had "acknowledged it as a significant ecological event".
The prime minister visited Adelaide company AgileX Biolabs, which has set up a new national brevetoxin testing lab, meaning samples no longer have to be sent to New Zealand.
Brevetoxins have been detected in shellfish in SA, forcing the closure of some harvesting areas.
Earlier, Mr Albanese went to Kangaroo Island, and commented on social media that the algal bloom had "a heartbreaking impact on our marine life, on our fishers, and on our communities".
