Interview with Kylie Baxter, ABC Hobart Drive

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
RADIO INTERVIEW
ABC HOBART DRIVE
THURSDAY, 13 AUGUST 2026

SUBJECTS: H5 bird flu   

KYLIE BAXTER, HOST: Tasmania's first case of bird flu has been detected. It was at Rocky Cape near Wynyard in the state's North West. The Department of Natural Resources and Environment Tasmania, better known as NRE Tas, responded after being alerted to the carcass of a brown skua by staff from the Parks and Wildlife Service. So, they completed the testing overnight, confirming that the skua is positive for the H5N1 strain of bird flu. Julie Collins is of course the Federal Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry and joins us on the Drive program. Minister, good afternoon.

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

BAXTER: So, what is the latest information that you have about the detection of H5 bird flu in Tasmania?

COLLINS. So, it is in a brown skua. So, that's a wild migratory bird and it's been found in the Rocky Cape area. What I would say to Tasmanians is that there's no evidence of any local transmission in birds in Tasmania. The other thing that I would want to reiterate is there's no evidence of it in our poultry or agricultural system and that the risk to humans remains low.

BAXTER: How confident are you, Julie Collins, that Tasmania's planned biosecurity response is going to be effective?

COLLINS: Well, we've obviously been investing early. We've had an advantage whereby the rest of the globe has been dealing with this H5 bird flu for some years. And so we've used that time, particularly in the last two years, in preparedness. And we've been investing together with state and territory governments in that preparedness as part of our additional $2 billion that we've put into biosecurity nationally in Australia. So, here in Tasmania, that's around an additional $5 million that we've put into biosecurity. So, this is things like enhancing habitat for native threatened species. It's things like making sure that the state government has the surveillance and the laboratory testing systems that it needs to be able to do the testing that's required. It's things like making sure that we're supporting mitigation on Bass Strait Islands for at risk bird species in my own electorate, I visited, for instance, Raptor Refuge, where we provided funding for them to be able to make sure that the masked owl and their wedgetail eagles there are able to be separated from wild birds and have clean food and water. So, those types of investments are what we've been making together with the Tasmanian state government into making sure that Tasmania is as resilient as it can be. But importantly, we've also been working really closely with the agriculture industry and with states and territories making sure that we learn the lessons of the H7 bird flu incursions that we've had over the last few years and that we're working with them to improve their on farm biosecurity systems and making sure that we do everything we can do to keep it out of our agricultural production system.

BAXTER: You're listening to the voice of Julie Collins, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. You are of course on 936, ABC Hobart. I am Kylie Baxter. Now I'd like to know if now that you know there is a case of bird flu in Tasmania, is there going to be increased surveillance, particularly along say the state's coastline and in areas where there are large populations of these migratory seabirds?

COLLINS: So, certainly at the moment we've got samples from that bird going to the CSIRO laboratory to be confirmed as H5 bird flu, particularly the high pathogenic strain. Once we know that, then obviously we'll continue to work with the Tasmanian state government on that increased surveillance that the Tasmanian state government is managing. So, the states and territories manage the on-ground response. And I know that with some of the funding that we've provided, the Tasmanian state government and some of its own funding has been doing increased surveillance already. So, I'm sure that and I understand that they are boosting the that again on the ground.

BAXTER: My understanding is that it's already tested positive for the H5 bird flu. Are you saying it's for a stronger strain?

COLLINS: So, it's been tested for the H5 bird flu in terms of at the state laboratory. But we do confirmatory testing at the CSIRO lab and that's where we get even more information about the sequencing and the exact type of H5 bird flu that each bird has. We only do this when we get the first bird in each state or territory or when there's a step change. So, if we think we have local transmission, we will do that type of testing. So, not every bird gets that testing, but certainly the first bird in Tasmania will get that type of testing done.

BAXTER: And are you going to do additional biosecurity? Sort of, would there be other requirements or even restrictions that are being looked at for poultry, eggs, feed equipment, just materials moving around Tasmania.

COLLINS: So, those decisions will be taken by the Tasmanian state government based on the advice of experts and it will depend on whether or not we get any more migratory birds. It will depend on whether or not we see any local transmission and the state government and the industry will make those decisions based on the expert advice at that time. So, it will vary depending on locations and whether or not there's any local transmission. But certainly states and territories would impose what you're calling there are housing orders, for instance, for free range chickens. That is a decision of a state government that would do that, but it's based on the advice of the technical experts that provide that advice about whether or not it's necessary, depending on how much bird flu would be in a particular area and what local transmission might look like.

BAXTER: Julie Collins, what assessment has the government made about the potential impact of H5 bird flu on Tasmania as a native species? Because we've heard a lot over the last few weeks, including from the Invasive Species Council, just about the risk to so many of our different animals.

COLLINS: Yes. So, we have been investing with the Tasmanian state government and they have done an analysis of the at risk species and they include things like the long-nosed fur seal, the orange-bellied parrot, the shy albatross, the Australasian gannet, the little and fairy terns, the short-tailed shearwater, the white-fronted tern and the Tasmanian devil. And we've also provided them with some funding to, as I said, to improve the insurance population of the devils and to do things like managing the habitat from feral animals and weeds and things like that to improve the likelihood of those species actually surviving.

BAXTER: If things deteriorate and we do get more cases of bird flu, who is ultimately responsible for coordinating the response?

COLLINS: So, the on ground responses are coordinated by states and territories and that's part of our national agreed emergency response to biosecurity incursions such as the H5 bird flu. And we have a well established funding program and a well established advice program for how that works. But every step that's taken by the state or the Federal Government is actually done on the advice of the technical experts in these areas. So, we had chief vets, for instance, meeting regularly since the first incursion in late June nationally. So, the Tasmanian chief vet will have been involved in those. The head of their department responsible would have been meeting with the head of my department and the other departments nationally on a regular basis. We've had meetings of agriculture and environment Ministers nationally. So, we're getting a very well coordinated response from tiers of government. But importantly, we've also had the wildlife experts, we've also had the industry experts in terms of the agricultural industry at the table as well. So, we've been doing all that work. And obviously we've also had announced today by the Tasmanian State government that considering vaccination of the orange-bellied parrot, because we've also made investments there in vaccines and we've spent the last two years trialing them on various bird types, particularly birds that are at risk. So, I welcome that news from the Tasmanian state government today.

BAXTER: We heard earlier that in Melbourne, some populations of fairy penguins are being vaccinated. Why are we not doing that in Tasmania?

COLLINS: Well, it's up to each state and territory to look at what type of native bird species is best suited to the vaccine. And that'll be based on a whole range of factors, its vulnerability, the testing that has been done over the last two years as part of the trials to make sure that we've got the testing right for each of those birds to make sure that they meet the permit conditions, because we obviously needed the scientific basis in which to apply for the permit to use the vaccine on Australia's birds. We also know that the vaccine needs two shots, so we can't do mass wild birds. The penguins that we're talking about in Victoria are a managed species, so they come back to the same place on a regular basis. So, they're confident that they're going to be able to get those penguins two shots. So, we wouldn't ordinarily be doing it in wild populations. They'll mostly be captive populations whereby the vaccines are going to be administered. And again, this is just complementary. What we know is that biosecurity is our first line of defence. And that's why, obviously, you and I have been talking a fair bit about biosecurity and the vaccines can be complementary to that.

BAXTER: If you have just joined the conversation, you're listening to the voice of Julie Collins, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. And the reason we're chatting is the fact that bird flu, sadly, has finally arrived in Tasmania. So, what lessons are we learning from the spread of the H5 bird flu across, you know, South Australia, Victoria, other states as well. Are those lessons being applied in Tasmania?

COLLINS: Well, certainly we've been learning the lessons globally as we prepare for the bird flu in Australia and in Tasmania, and we've been watching what has occurred overseas, where they've had it for many more years. We always knew we couldn't keep it out of Australia and out of Tasmania and it would arrive via migratory birds. And that's what we've seen. We have one area of lots of transmission in Australia, which is really in the South Australian Victorian border area. We do have and have had cases of other migratory wild birds in Queensland, in New South Wales and also in Western Australia. and in Western Australia, they've had now 10 and they have still have no evidence of local transmission there. So, what I would say is that we are tracking it across the Australian continent and the fact that we've got our detection so early and we're able to track it shows just how strong Australia's response has been and how prepared we were. And we're doing better than any other country has done in terms of being able to track these incursions and being able to deal with them up to this point.

BAXTER: What advice do you have for Tasmanians who have backyard chickens? Because a lot of people love that they might even have ducks, other birds. What's your advice?

COLLINS: What I would say is keep up to date on birdflu.gov au where we'll be updating with local events and local locations in terms of where we know bird flu is in Tasmania. And the other thing I would say is there's a lot of really practical advice on there in terms of people that keep backyard chickens about making sure that they can protect them from wild birds should the bird flu, local transmission be in their area at any point in time, but also about how to make sure that they have clean water and clean feed. So, there's some really practical advice on birdflu.gov.au there's some great resources on there for locals.

BAXTER: And just finally, Minister, do you feel that Tasmania is adequately prepared?

COLLINS: What I would say is that we've seen globally how the H5 bird flu spreads. We know that we can't stop it from spreading. We've done everything we possibly can do as a Federal Government in terms of preparedness, working with state and territory governments and with industry. So, we're as prepared as any country could be. And certainly our investments have shown to date that they have proven value in terms of what we've been able to learn early and how we've been able to map the disease that goes across the country.

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

COLLINS: If I could just say one more thing. I do want to thank Tasmanians for the reporting of sick or dead birds, Kylie, and ask them to continue to do that and to go to birdflu.gov.au to report any sick or dead birds that they may find after they've recorded the location.

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