Interview with Kyle Baxter, ABC Hobart Drive

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
RADIO INTERVIEW 
ABC HOBART DRIVE
MONDAY, 17 NOVEMBER 2025

Subjects: H5 Bird Flu, Rock lobster, urban Precincts and Partnerships Program

KYLIE BAXTER, HOST: Yes, you might have heard on the Drive program last month when we told you that scientists aboard the RSV Nuyina believe that a deadly strain of bird flu has reached Heard Island. It's after they witnessed unusual levels of mortality in elephant seals. So, they took samples at this time. But the ship is now about to finally arrive back in Hobart so that those samples can be sent to the lab and tested. Julie Collins is the member for Franklin and Federal Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, and joins me. Good afternoon.

JULIE COLLINS, MINISTER FOR AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FORESTRY: Good afternoon, Kylie, and to your listeners today.

BAXTER: So, Julie, how concerned are you that signs of the H5 strain of bird flu were detected on Heard Island?

COLLINS: Well, we've obviously been preparing for the H5 HPAI virus for some time now. We invested around $100 million to make sure we were prepared. Australia remains the only continent free of this strain of bird flu that we know in other countries can really impact, you know, native animals, wildlife, particularly mammals and birds. And we've also seen it enter the food production systems in some countries. So, we're doing everything we can do. We can't stop it from coming, but what we can do is be prepared for it coming. So, it's not unexpected if we do find it on Heard Island. As we've said, they're not confirmed reports yet. We do have to go through some rigorous testing to see. But unfortunately, we did see unusual levels of mortality in elephant seal pups on Heard Island from the expeditionists when they were there in October.

BAXTER: Now, the samples on the Nuyina, I mean, has it actually docked yet? And how quickly, do you know, will those samples be turned around so we can kind of get a conclusive, you know, outcome as to what the situation is?

COLLINS: So, the Nuyina is back in port here in Hobart, and the samples were collected safely by trained expeditioners at the time with PPE and other protection equipment in it. And they were sealed and they're packaged securely and they then go through a strict protocol for dangerous goods and then they go over to the CSIRO laboratory for the Centre for Disease Preparedness where they undergo rigorous testing. We do expect that testing to take a couple of weeks, so we won't have a confirmation either way for some time. But we need to make sure. Obviously, we do rigorous testing and get it right. But I do want to assure people that my department officials, biosecurity experts, were there when the ship docked this morning, and the proper rigorous processes will be undertaken in accordance with strict protocols.

BAXTER: If you have just tuned in, my guest is Julie Collins, the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. We're talking about the fact that the research vessel the Nuyina has docked in Hobart with those samples that are now being lab tested. It's in relation to the possibility of the H5 strain of bird flu being detected on Heard Island. Now, we're currently the last remaining continent free of this deadly bird flu strain. Why can't we keep it out? I mean, it's out - we haven't had it till now. Is there any way that we could actually remain, you know, this, you know, free of this particular strain of bird flu?

COLLINS: Well, obviously, Kylie, we're trying to do that for as long as possible, and certainly it does come in via migratory birds. Unfortunately, as we've seen, it has been detected in some sub-Antarctic islands, you know, reasonably close - I mean, hundreds of kilometres still from Heard Island. But I'd remind listeners that Heard Island is around 4,000 kilometres South West of Perth. So, it is still some distance from Australia. And indeed, all the experts tell me that the most likely entry into Australia is actually probably from northern Australia through migratory birds. But listeners will be pleased to know that our government's investment - this hundred million dollars on top of the $2 billion that we've put into biosecurity since we've come to office. We have actually done some, you know, game planning with other tiers of government, with industry, and we've done exercises where we have tested, if one were to occur, what it would look like, and the response, and how we would go about it to try and isolate it as much as possible. But we have seen it, sadly, impact every continent, and we can't stop it, unfortunately.

BAXTER: Now, Julie Collins, another issue that's concerning some Tasmanians is the use of antibiotics like florfenicol in our waters, in particular in salmon pens at Dover. So, it has released, you know, public warnings, public health has, and more recently, we've obviously had the closure of part of the rock lobster fishery south of the D'Entrecasteaux Channel. How concerned are you about this? Because it affects people in your community, the people that you represent.

COLLINS: Well, what I would say is, obviously, as I've been very clear, the Tasmanian State Government is responsible for the management of the local waterways, and I have been calling on them for some time, many years now, indeed, to have more transparency around the way that they do that regulation. The other thing I would say is that this antibiotic was approved by the independent APVMA, which is the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority, and it was done independently, based on science, and a proper assessment was done for the use of this, as it is in any animals that are in the food supply system in Australia.

BAXTER: But this rock lobster fisherman, his name is Bryce. I don't know if you heard this earlier in the program, but he said that they got very short notice. I'll just play you a little bit of this.

SPEAKER: The season opened on the fourteenth at one o'clock in the afternoon, and we got an email at about six fifteen in the evening, saying that as of midnight that night, once you pull your gear, don't shoot them back in the water. That was it.

BAXTER: Do you think that's a bit rich that they were given such short notice, and the fishery was closed a very short time later on the same day that it actually opened? Do you sympathise and understand that that is, you know, a lot for people to handle?

COLLINS: Certainly. And certainly, I think the Tasmanian State Government should have done a lot better and provided a lot more transparency and notice to people about what they were doing and why. To be really blunt about it, Kylie, I would say. So, this really is on the Tasmanian State Government to have done a better process and to have had more transparency and timeliness around that.

BAXTER: Now, on another note, today you've announced funding to explore plans for a shuttle bus transport hub at Hall Saddle in the Kunanyi/Mount Wellington foothills. I don't know if many people know about this, but what is the thought behind that proposal?

COLLINS: So, what we've done today is we've announced almost five million dollars for two councils in southern Tasmania, so one for Clarence and one for Hobart City Council. So, this is great news for Tassie that we've got some of this urban precincts and planning money. And what this is about is about bolstering the resources of local government to do bigger planning rather than just ad-hoc projects around the place, to do larger regional planning for things like the cultural precinct that is around the Rosny Barn and the Rosny Farm area on Hobart's Eastern Shore, and at Hall Saddle closer to Mount Wellington.

BAXTER: And so five million dollars - do you think this will get off the ground? I mean, is it, you know, is it imminent? What stage is it at? Sorry.

COLLINS: So, this is about helping the local governments, the two city councils, to do better planning, and to make sure that they do good community consultation and what we want to do is to work with them to make sure that that planning is extensive, that the consultation is done appropriately and indeed that we have shovel ready projects when the time comes for those. So, this is really about supporting and bolstering the councils in Hobart to be able to do that.

BAXTER: Julie Collins, thanks for joining me on the Drive program.

COLLINS: Thanks very much, Kylie, and to your listeners. Good afternoon.

BAXTER: Julie Collins, the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries, and Forestry.