Julie Collins (Franklin, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) | Hansard source

I want to thank our great member for Moore for that great question. I know that he and many other members in this place, particularly our members from Western Australia, are really concerned over the reporting on the weekend, where I announced that the CSIRO's Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness had confirmed that a brown skua in Western Australia tested positive to the H5 bird flu. Just a few short moments ago before question time, I, together with the Premier of Western Australia, Roger Cook, and Minister Watt, announced that further testing has confirmed H5 bird flu in a northern giant petrel found in the same region.

I reiterate that these are two migratory birds. Whilst these two confirmed results are not unexpected, given the spread of H5 globally, they are very concerning. I also want to be very clear at this time that there's no evidence of any mass mortalities, nor is there any evidence of the bird flu in our poultry or agricultural systems. Also, there's a generally low risk of human infection associated with this strain of the virus.

I want to reassure all Australians that we are well prepared for the arrival of the H5 bird flu, and we had been planning for this. Our national biosecurity response arrangements have been enacted, with Western Australia managing the on-ground response. They have responded very quickly to the detection with enhanced surveillance. They're working closely with industry, veterinarians, wildlife carers and local communities. My department, the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, is leading the national coordination. Along with our experts, we've been meeting around the clock over the weekend with industry and with jurisdictions—the states and territories—to manage the response to this detection. The head start that we've been given before the arrival of the H5 bird flu has not been wasted by our government, particularly given some of the devastation in wildlife that we have seen overseas.

We've invested over $113 million to strengthen our preparedness for H5 bird flu. This is part of the more than $2 billion in additional biosecurity resourcing that we have provided since coming to government. It also includes funding delivered directly to the Western Australian government to support the delivery of rapid, critical diagnostic and decontamination equipment. Our preparedness funding has also made a great difference on the ground, with improved biosecurity measures, particularly for endangered species. We've also been conducting national preparedness exercises right across portfolios with states, territories and the industries.

We have been working really hard, in terms of the detection, with the public. I thank the public for this detection. I also want to say that this is the system working. I reiterate to the public that, if you see multiple sick or dead birds or other animals, please do not touch them. Avoid contact, record what you see and go to birdflu.gov.au.

See this speech in context