Doorstop in Kettering, Tasmania

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
DOORSTOP
KETTERING
THURSDAY, 29 JANUARY 2026

SUBJECT: Support to prepare for H5 bird flu.

JULIE COLLINS, MINISTER FOR AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FORESTRY: Well it's terrific to be here at Raptor Refuge to see first hand how the funding that we're providing across the country and across Tasmania is helping to protect some of our threatened species, particularly some of our amazing wildlife here, our wedge tailed eagle and our masked owl. The wedge tailed eagle here in Tasmania is a subspecies and it is of course Australia's largest-sorry, I've been interrupted by the bird. That's spectacular.

JOURNALIST: That is so cool.

CRAIG WEBB, RAPTOR REFUGE: That's Witchiepoo.        

JOURNALIST: Is it? Witchiepoo knows what we're doing.

COLLINS: Sorry, I'll start that again.

WEBB: Sorry about that.

COLLINS: No, that's okay. It's great. And particularly of course the Tasmanian wedge tailed eagle being a subspecies, being Australia's largest bird of prey. We want to make sure we're doing everything we can do to protect them from the bird flu H5 virus. As I've said repeatedly, we currently don't have the bird flu H5 virus here in Australia, but of course we're not going to be able to stop it forever. We do know that it will come via migratory birds, and what we're doing is, we're helping to prepare Australia and make sure we're doing everything we can, particularly to protect threatened species such as our birds, and of course some of our mammals. And that's what you're seeing today, a new investment. Raptor Refuge is one of 21 organisations around the country, from Perth Zoo to Sea World, down here to southern Tasmania, we are investing to protect some of our threatened species from the bird flu and potential bird flu coming to Australia. We've seen overseas what the bird flu can do. It's part of our $100 million early investment that we have been investing. We've also provided funding of course to states and territories to help them prepare, to make sure that we have appropriate mobile testing units. And again, my plea to the public would be if you see dead birds, particularly large groups of dead birds, please don't touch them. Please go to birdflu.gov.au and report them and they can be tested.

JOURNALIST: So what exactly is the money here, how much is being given to this facility?

COLLINS: So Raptor Refuge is getting around $117,000. Here in Tasmania over half a million dollars is being invested in four facilities. Some of those facilities we've provided funding to earlier in the earlier round, but this is around $5 million nationally that is being invested in zoos and aquariums across the country, and you know, wonderful places like Raptor Refuge here in southern Hobart.

JOURNALIST: Do you have any idea when the virus comes here which part of the country it might be likely to hit?

COLLINS: Yeah, well we've obviously had bird flu confirmed on Heard Island South-West of Perth, 4,000 kilometres. Of course our continent still remains bird flu free. We are getting advice that it could come anywhere from migratory birds either from the south or from the north most likely. But what we want Australians to do is to be aware that if they do see, you know, large groups of dead birds to please go to birdflu.gov.au and please report them.

JOURNALIST: Is there any idea of when   you said it hasn't come to Australia yet, but it will eventually, do you know when exactly it could, like what season?

COLLINS: All of the experts say to me that the most likely season is spring but it could arrive any time during the year, and of course it could be here for a little while and go undetected, but of course we're doing everything we can so that if we do find it in Australia we're on to it as quickly as possible and we manage it as quickly as possible. What we've seen overseas is billions of dollars being invested to try and deal with bird flu H5 outbreaks.

JOURNALIST: How devastating would it be if it did, if we did have a full outbreak here?

COLLINS: Well that's what we're investing early for, is to make sure that we're as prepared as we can be. Protecting some of our threatened species, particularly like our, you know, wonderful wedge tailed eagle and masked owl here in southern Tasmania is so critically important. We'll continue to work with experts and people who know how these things work, the experts and the evidence, and that is what is guiding us.

JOURNALIST: What about support for people who are in the poultry industry and farming chickens and stuff?

COLLINS: Well obviously we have a, you know, well-utilised system for those types of incursions. We've seen over the last three years we've had two outbreaks of the H7 avian flu, bird flu in Australia, and we've managed to successfully eradicate those. And we have a process of levies working with states and territories and with the industry, and they've been successful in the past and we have long standing agreements on how those things work.

JOURNALIST: What kind of measures will facilities like this one be able to implement with this funding?

COLLINS: Well Craig's happy to talk about exactly what they've been doing, but essentially it's about improving biosecurity. It's about making sure that, you know, the bird flu, the droppings of birds who may carry bird flus are less likely to, you know, get into water systems. It's about making sure that if people access some of the areas where some of the birds might be and some of the mammals, for instance Devils@Cradle and also the Hobart Zoo and Aquarium have devil protection money there where they are making sure that any interactions, we're doing everything we can to improve the biosecurity to keep the birds disease free. I don't know, Craig, if you'd like to talk specifically for us?

WEBB: How's the owl looking?

JOURNALIST: Yeah, it looks fantastic. All right. And maybe just introduce yourself for me, Craig.

WEBB: Yeah, I'm Craig Webb, founder of Raptor Refuge.

JOURNALIST: Great. Craig, tell us what this money's going towards?

WEBB: This is all about the biosecurity for the HPAI bird flu and it's a complex situation and clearly quite a scary issue that's been knocking on our doorstep in Tasmania. So we put a lot of effort into being prepared for it, just not in practical measures but in a bird flu plan. So we're aware of what's going to go on here to be in quarantining birds and all practical measures, stopping bird faeces coming in aviaries by netting the aviaries and things like that. Also, the lion's share of this grant has gone into an x ray machine, so we don't have to travel to the city and take our birds there. So we're minimising all the risks we can and we're looking at it. It's a complex issue and we've got to take it very seriously. So we've put a lot of effort into getting to this point.

JOURNALIST: How many birds do you currently have in your care? And I guess what kind of care treatments are they currently receiving?

WEBB: Look, I haven't counted them. We've had a couple of releases lately, but we've probably got 50 something birds here at the moment, which includes about a dozen wedge tailed eagles, which is a threatened species, and I think we've got 16 masked owls, of course a threatened bird as well. So we've got to do the best we can to do what we can to help these birds in any way we can.

JOURNALIST: Do you think now is the right time for this money to be coming in, is it too late?

WEBB: It's not for me to say. It's fantastic and I'd like to thank the Federal Government and Zoo Aquarium Association for being on the front foot, to be getting this prepared situation for what could be actually devastating what's going on in the rest of the world. So I think it's a great time and we're on the front foot with this one, so yeah.

JOURNALIST: And for the people that maybe don't understand the gravity of how devastating bird flu could be, what impact could it have on bird life across the country?

WEBB: Death, yeah. It's a nasty thing. So you've just got to Google what's going on in the rest of the world, and it's not just birds. So it's scary and it's of great concern and I'm just happy to have some support here so we can do the best we can and be prepared for it. It's wonderful, yeah.