Doorstop at Parliament House, Canberra

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
DOORSTOP
PARLIAMENT HOUSE
MONDAY, 14 OCTOBER 2024

SUBJECTS: Additional funding for HPAI H5N1 preparedness; Environment laws.

JULIE COLLINS, MINISTER FOR AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FORESTRY: Can I thank you all for joining us here today. It's myself as Agriculture Minister, Tanya Plibersek obviously as Environment Minister, we've got Minister McAllister here as managing the National Emergency Response, and we have Doctor Fraser, we have Doctor Smith and Professor Kelly here as our experts, our Chief Medical Officer, our threatened species and our coordinator of disaster response from biosecurity.

What we're announcing today is that our Government is investing a further $95 million, taking it to $100 million, over $100 million, in preparedness for HPAI H5N1, known as bird flu. It's the H5 bird flu. This is different from the H7 bird flu from which we've been dealing with earlier in the year. You would be aware that we have been able to contain that bird flu outbreak.

We are concerned about the H5 outbreak if we were to get one. We are currently the only continent without the H5 bird flu. It will come into Australia through migrating birds. We have no control over that at our borders. We have obviously strengthened our border security and invested more than an additional $1 billion in our biosecurity when it comes to protecting Australia from pests and disease. But this one we may not be able to stop because of the migrating birds.

As part of the $95 million additional investment the Department of Agriculture will receive around $37 million, and this will provide critical capability and improve surveillance for key partners. So this will purchase us critical equipment such as mobile laboratories for further testing.

There will be a $5 million boost to biosecurity and scientific capability, $10 million for a national coordinated communications campaign, and $7 million to increase and improve early detection and reporting capacity through Wildlife Health Australia. This is important to make sure that if the disease comes into Australia that we get it as early as possible so that we can manage and contain the disease.

We are also, and Minister Plibersek will go into the details, another $35 million there, there is some money going to the Department of Health in terms of vaccines which Professor Kelly will talk to. And then of course if we do have an outbreak and it does get to the serious level, Minister McAllister and her Department will [indistinct] and will have something to say.

I'll hand now to Minister Plibersek.

TANYA PLIBERSEK, MINISTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT AND WATER: Thank you, Julie. As Minister Collins said, we're only the continent so far that hasn't seen an outbreak of the H5N1 version of bird flu. This is a particularly easily transmittable version of bird flu, and it's meant that globally around 500 bird species, around 80 mammal species have been very severely affected by this strain of bird flu.

We've seen mass mortality events in countries around the world. It is very likely that this strain will eventually reach Australia. Spring is the most likely time for it to hit because of those migratory bird species that will be coming from countries where the strain is prevalent. We are doing our very best to make sure that we don't see mortality that would send threatened species extinct in the wild. We're trying to prevent that by investing in early detection and surveillance, substantially increasing our detection and surveillance capabilities to make sure that we catch it as soon as it arrives here.

And we're also investing in taking a species and site specific approach to planning for this bird flu so that we look at the species that are particularly susceptible to it, and that would include species that nest in a single area like the Christmas Island frigate. It also includes some species that are on the threatened species list like the Australian sea lion. We are particularly worried about those species that are in low numbers in the wild.

We're working with the Zoos and Aquarium Association and other stakeholders to make sure that we are able to protect our threatened species, including by examining approaches like vaccination of threatened species. This strain of bird flu is particularly dangerous and this extra investment, taking the Australian Government’s investment now to over $100 million, gives us the very best chance of protecting our precious threatened species. Thanks.

COLLINS: Thanks Tanya. Minister McAllister.

JENNY MCALLISTER, MINISTER FOR EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT: Well the National Emergency Management Agency has been working with State agencies, industry and community organisations to ensure that we keep safe our communities and our wildlife, and our agricultural industries should an incursion take place. And it's very important that we do this in a coordinated and collaborative way. This part is critical. There is no one entity that can manage this challenge in what's required is coordination between government, industry and community.

So NEMA has supported the design and delivery of three crisis exercises. In August and September in 2024. They have activated a national coordination mechanism multiple times to ensure that we are coordinating, and we of course continue to provide crisis planning and emergency management in a coordinated way to the Department of Agriculture who are leading this work.

Now all of this work has informed the investment that's been made to date. The most important thing is the sense that we need to work collaboratively in the work that it has so that we're [indistinct] to the [indistinct].

COLLINS: We might get Professor Kelly up first to talk about the health investment today.

PROFESSOR PAUL KELLY, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: Thank you, Minister. So this has been a wonderful collaborative effort, as the Ministers have mentioned already. The concept of One Health is a really important concept as we go forward to pandemic planning, and this is a very great day for that particular enterprise. So working together with Agriculture, with Environment and with our Emergency Services is really important for that preparation piece.

Within the announcement today there is $22.1 million for vaccine. There's a specific vaccine development for human protection if that was to be required. I'd say just very clearly that there is an extremely low risk of human disease from this particular organism right now in Australia. However as Minister Collins has mentioned, it's really when not if that this arrives, and we've seen in other parts of the world, whilst there has been rather mild human disease so far, this virus is changing very quickly and has caused issues within both wildlife, as has been mentioned, and in industry where humans are very closely engaged in dairy and all the particular areas we're watching very carefully.

So great announcement from the human health perspective in preparation in case it is needed in the future.

COLLINS: We might get Doctor Smith and then Doctor Fraser and then we'll take some questions.

DR BRANT SMITH, NATIONAL ANIMAL DISEASE PREPAREDNESS COORDINATOR: Good morning. Doctor Brant Smith, I'm the National Animal Disease Preparedness Coordinator for the Department of Agriculture. So preparedness for emergency animal diseases has been long standing for us. We've done a lot of work over many years, including the National Avian Influenza Wild Bird Survey works of 2005 and our Northern Australian Quarantine Strategy for 30 years.

But obviously with this increased risk we needed to uplift our effort and what was really important was the work of the HPAI task force which was dedicated just to work on this really important issue, and that led to the Exercise Volare which Minister McAllister mentioned, and that was really key for us to stress test our system, work across Government, States and Territory, industry and non Government organisations to understand where we needed to direct our effort. As part of that we also did a webinar to really understand from the public's perspective what they needed to know.

This is a critical investment for us because preparedness is the most important thing in our space. The investment is practical, is front loaded and is very much trying to look at some of the issues that are in front of us now, which is around surveillance, early detection and working with our Environment colleagues, our Health colleagues, to best prepare us. One of the key components of that is vaccinations potentially for wild bird species, practical things like critical supplies for states and territories, and this will put us into an excellent position for our preparedness. Thank you.

COLLINS: Doctor Fraser.

DR FIONA FRASER, THREATENED SPECIES COMMISIONER: Good morning. Fiona Fraser, the Threatened Species Commissioner with the Department of Environment. So, for biodiversity these new funds are really going to help us to get on the front foot for our most imperilled and our most vulnerable birds and mammals and give them a fighting chance when this version of HPAI eventually arrives in Australia.

It will fund our better understanding of which species are most vulnerable and most susceptible to this disease. It will fund preparedness through planning, through our states and territories and other land managers. It will fund better biosecurity arrangements through our most - our captive breeding facilities where our most imperilled threatened species are housed. It will also support greater surveillance across the Murray-Darling Basin area and our remote island territories, so across the Indian Ocean where infected birds could make their way to Australia. And it will support on-ground actions, such as the addressing threats that many of our most susceptible species face already. So, because we can't mitigate the impacts of this strain of bird flu in the environment, what we can do is take steps to address other threats. And that could be invasive predators, it could be invasive rodents on offshore islands where we have important breeding colonies of sea birds.

So, we're really excited to have these new funds to boost our efforts which are underway in biodiversity preparedness at the moment. But we're certainly not starting from a blank slate. There's a lot of preparedness work that's been underway, working very closely with our partners on this. And on that note, I would very much encourage Australia's wildlife managers to be accessing the Wildlife Health Australia website where there's advice and guidance for wildlife managers. And also, I would just remind people that today's the start of the great Aussie Bird Count. So understanding where our important bird populations are and how healthy they are actually helps us to respond to global issues like this. Thank you.

COLLINS: Thank you. And I will say to members of the public if they see large lots of dead birds they should either call 1800 675 888 or birdflu.gov.au online in terms of reporting them so that we can make sure that we test where appropriate.

So, questions. Experts, Tanya and myself, yes.

JOURNALIST: There's a lot of concern in the community about the cost of living and the cost of food. So, what analysis does the government have and what this could mean for the cost of chicken and eggs? Are we looking at an impact on the food supply in Australia? And of course I think there'll be some Australians who will be concerned about the safety of food as well. So, what's your response on those concerns?

COLLINS: Well can I say that in terms of the H7 outbreak that we've recently dealt with from, I think it was May through to July, we certainly saw some mild impact on our meat supply chain. What we are doing in terms of preparedness, and the reason we're doing this, is to make sure that we maintain food security and food safety, which is why we're doing the work that we're doing. I'm not sure whether one of our experts wants to make a comment on the food safety situation.

PROFESSOR KELLY: Yes, thank you. So we did look at this in relation to the H7 outbreak, as the Minister has mentioned, and our advice is that there was no human health problem with this from that perspective. This flu spreads the same way as other influenza viruses do, which is in the air. That's the way it's likely to come to the human populations here.

JOURNALIST: How much have you been able to take advantage from Australia being the only continent that hasn't experienced this flu yet? How much have you learnt from other countries and how they dealt with this flu?

COLLINS: Certainly we have learned a lot from what other countries are doing and how they are responding to this H5 bird flu. As some of our experts have alluded to, there's been a particular outbreak in the US where it has gotten into dairy cattle and where we have seen it being transferred into humans who are working with the livestock. So, we are learning from that, which is why Exercise Volare was undertaken and we're learning from our exercise, which is why we now have this announcement to make sure that we are prepared.

JOURNALIST: Dr Smith, I just wanted to ask you, you said possibly you're going to be vaccinating wild birds for this. How do you go about doing that?

DR SMITH: Yeah, thank you, good question. So this was mainly about bird species that are captive primarily, so that's those that are highest risk of extinction. So, we're aware that there have been some positive vaccination trials undertaken in the US, as the Minister has said, in some condors and other wild bird species. So we are looking at bringing in available vaccines to have as a critical supply if needed, and we'll look to do some trials to make sure we see how they work in our species here. But it's really a safeguard mechanism to ensure we can maintain those critical threatened species through the H5 virus.

JOURNALIST: What are the species?

COLLINS: Fiona, yes.

DR FRASER: Thank you. So, the application of vaccines for wild birds would probably be few and far between, so we're looking very closely at which species would most benefit from the application of vaccines. So, they include our threatened species, mostly in captivity, where if those individuals caught that disease it could actually risk their existence in the wild. So, we have many species of birds, for example we have orange-bellied parrots, we have plains-wanderers, we have regent honeyeaters, where the captive breeding program is critical for their existence in the wild. So, we are looking at those facilities, not just to vaccinate those birds, and it may not be appropriate for some of those birds in the long run, but to increase the biosecurity levels at those facilities which support those birds. So, there's not one measure to mitigate the impacts for our most imperilled birds and mammals, we're looking at a range of measures for each. Vaccination is it's not a fail-safe and certainly in the wild there is very few situations where we would be likely to apply that.

JOURNALIST: Professor Kelly, you said the word pandemic. How concerned are you about the human health impacts? How fast does it spread human-to-human? Is there a likelihood of this getting out?

PROFESSOR KELLY: So, I should clarify when I said that word. Look, I think this is all about preparedness and the announcement today, as my colleagues and Ministers have said, is about us getting ahead of the curve. And to answer the question earlier, it is an advantage that Australia does have a moat and we know how to use it. So, the fact that we've had time to actually see what's happening elsewhere is really important.

The chance of someone having H5N1 - we did have one case this year of someone who came back from India, a young child. But the case of this occurring in humans before we see some of the other issues that have been talked about in wild birds, for example, is very, very low. What we've seen in the US, for example, there's been less than 20 cases, despite the fact that in - and most related to the dairy cattle outbreak. And there's been no evidence of severe disease or of transmission to others, to other human-to-human transmission.

So, at the moment, you know, that's way off, but we can't be complacent about that. As Minister Plibersek mentioned, it has affected 500 different species of birds, 80 different species of mammals. It has affected humans, and it is changing very quickly. So this is exactly the time to take those preparedness.

JOURNALIST: Professor Kelly, just to follow up on that. I guess we've seen a few reports recently and panels of experts looking back on the COVID pandemic and [indistinct] investigation later this month. But there have been concerns raised about, I suppose it's the attitude of the public towards, you know, potential mitigation measures that might need to be in place for future pandemics. How confident are you that people would obey instructions to take precautionary measures, get vaccinations, stay at home, whatever it is, should we get there?

PROFESSOR KELLY: So the interim CDC, which I've been getting since January, has been examining all of these issues and making sure that we really highlight the importance of clear communication. Hopefully I've been able to do that during the pandemic as well and I think that's really crucial.

But yes, people, as we've seen, you know, when you mention that word people's eyes actually usually glaze over - pandemic, COVID, and so forth. People have kind of forgotten what we went through just a few years ago. So, it will be interesting, I think, you know, it is government's responsibility and experts’ responsibility to assist in that path and to be very clear about advice, and I think that's been demonstrated again today in the One Health context and by the experts here within their own fields talking about those things, and I think that's a crucial component.

JOURNALIST: Can I ask Minister Plibersek on the Environment Protection Australia whether - are you hoping you'll get a deal with the Coalition before the end of the year, and what do you make of their demands about removing the water trigger and safeguarding the forestry industry?

PLIBERSEK: Well, we continue to talk to both the Coalition and the Greens political party to get support for the second tranche of environment law reform. And I think both the Greens and the Liberals and the Nationals should be supporting the laws as they are now. These laws have something for everyone. For the Greens political party we have got stronger environmental protections; Australia's first Environment Protection Agency, the establishment of Environment Information Australia, substantial new investments in environment protection. For the Coalition, they have faster, clearer decision making for business, and they reflect the very clear message from Professor Graeme Samuel that our environment laws are not good for nature, nor are they good for business. We'll continue to talk to people across the Senate. What I would say is that both the business community at large and environmental organisations support the legislative agenda that we've got going forward, and it would be great if instead of blocking this we had some support from the Greens and the Coalition.

JOURNALIST: Do you feel hamstrung by the fact that the PM has basically said he doesn't want a deal with the Greens on this?

TANYA PLIBERSEK: Well, what the Prime Minister said is that he doesn't support the climate trigger because we have something called the Safeguard Mechanism. The Safeguard Mechanism was negotiated with and legislated with the Greens and the Teals. And what it does is set a trajectory to net zero for this country. It makes no sense to have carbon emissions covered by the Safeguard Mechanism and then separately covered in a different way by new environmental laws. That's just common sense.

JOURNALIST: Professor Kelly, can I ask about the vaccines for humans. So what type of vaccine [indistinct]. Do we have some already? How many are we going to buy? How many do we foresee using?

PROFESSOR KELLY: So, we do have specific pandemic influenza vaccine in the National Medical Stockpile, and this is the money that's announced today, the funding announced today is actually to increase those stocks. We will also diversify the actual antigens within those vaccines which would cover a range of different scenarios in relation to bird influenza.

JOURNALIST: How many?

PROFESSOR KELLY: I'm not going to tell you how much we've got, but we've got a substantial amount in the National Medical Stockpile.

JOURNALIST: And it would be a mass inoculation?

PROFESSOR KELLY: It would initially be for people at highest risk. And whilst we would then switch on if there was an actual pandemic occurred, we do have arrangements with our industry partners to switch their production to increase stocks, and that would be rapidly installed.

JOURNALIST: Is it specific to the H5N1 or is it quite broader?

PROFESSOR KELLY: Yeah, it's - the one that we have now is a pandemic, potential pandemic vaccine, and the one that will be in negotiation now that we have funding for this measure to look at what we could do in terms of diversifying that. I mean, very strong advice from our WHO Collaborating Centre in Melbourne, the experts on these matters, that what we have in stock now would cover the eventuality of H5N1 pandemic if it was to come, and we would look to have something similar but slightly different to just have that quality range.

JOURNALIST: I've got a question on how the virus gets in in the first place. Do you have any information about which birds have been moving the virus into other neighbouring countries such as Indonesia and which ones are likely to bring it here? I ask because we have strong opinions from readers about birds and where they fly. The koel, in particular. Is it the koel? Is it the channel-billed cuckoo? You know, what's likely to bring it in?

DR FRASER: So there's a range of different bird species which can bring this virus to Australia. It could be brought with migratory bird species, but it also could be brought here with sea birds and also birds which island hop north of Australia, or also come up from the south through Antarctica. So, it's not a single species which could bring this virus here, it's any bird, really, which makes its way to Australia. We've got surveillance around the country, and Dr Smith will talk to this, but we also have surveillance north of Australia, and surveillance is key for us understanding, particularly for island hopping, how this disease might get here.

DR SMITH: So, for the National Avian Influenza Wild Bird Survey, which is undertaken through Wildlife Health Australia, we've bolstered that as part of this package of $7 million of additional funding. They've already tested 145,000 birds for HPAI diseases, and that is --

JOURNALIST: Australian authorities?

DR SMITH: So Wildlife Health Australia is funded as an organisation and work with government and they work with partners as well around the place, and they look at those entry points, as Dr Fraser has said, and they will test at specific locations for this disease, and they've never found it to date. The other part of it is our Northern Australian Quarantine Strategy, so that covers right across the top end. They will do targeted surveillance and undertake the investigation, should they have mortality events.

JOURNALIST: How do you test a bird that's just hopped over from Indonesia?

DR SMITH: So there's a variety of ways. They do a lot of faecal samples, so they'll actually test for signs of disease. It's a lot easier than actually grabbing wild birds. They do have dead birds. They also do samples, tissue samples and [indistinct].

DR FRASER: They also do catch wild birds though. So they'll look to catching nets, migratory birds which have arrived in Australia and do samples of those birds as well.

JOURNALIST: What threatened - what mammals are at risk, most at risk?

DR FRASER: So overseas the experience has been there's been more than 80 different mammal species which have been susceptible and died from this disease. So, in Australia of course there could be a wide range of mammals. However, generally speaking it is mammals which congregate where the disease spreads. So, our concerns are more animals such as seals and sea lions which congregate on beaches and also mix with wild birds in those environments as well. Also scavengers, so animals which eat dead birds. So, they could be feral cats, they could be dingos, they could be our quolls as well. So, that's less likely to result in a mass mortality event because of those scavengers, but they could actually spread that disease to other locations.

JOURNALIST: So does that mean the prospect of large-scale culling in, say, the poultry sector, is there means in play to support business through this process? What are the contingencies?

DR SMITH: Yeah. So, primarily what we're looking at this point is the introduction through wildlife and managing that. If it did get into the production sector we would manage it in a similar way as they did with the H7 outbreaks. So, our Emergency Animal Disease Response agreements which are pre-prepared cost sharing arrangements which would kick into place. And they would undertake the same levels of containment and reporting, and that would be part of our normal response arrangements.

JOURNALIST: Containment being culling, that kind of thing?

DR SMITH: Yes. So, in poultry sectors for avian influenza the first point is to contain and undertake destruction to try to prevent the spread of disease through poultry.

JOURNALIST: Is the purpose of the funding and the press conference today because this is now inevitable? There are a few different words that have been used like 'eventually'. Is it definitely coming, is it an inevitable outcome?

DR SMITH: I guess that what we've seen is there's definitely an increased risk. We did a risk assessment to determine it last year, and it has been said it hasn't reached us because of mainly distance, but that's important for us to be prepared for. It's difficult to determine but absolutely it is a heightened risk and as such we are stepping up our efforts around preparedness and response.

JOURNALIST: You've mentioned pretty much the north, south and almost all directions of Australia being possible entry points. Are there any hot spots in particular that are worth noting and the public being aware of if there are mass events?

DR FRASER: Yeah, so there's really well-known sites where migratory birds arrive in Australia, but part of this funding, and there is already work underway to support this so we're building on this, is to understand where the disease might arrive and where wildlife are most susceptible to that disease. And also, if it arrives in a certain location, where is it likely to spread to next based on [indistinct]. Australia has, I don't know how many, hundreds, thousands of wetlands, so the potential for this disease to spread across those wetlands, which are not limited to but largely found around our coastal areas and on islands, is, yeah, [indistinct].

JOURNALIST: What's a typical outcome [indistinct] birds, what are the telltale signs [indistinct]?

DR SMITH: Yeah, so it's quite an acute disease. So, there have been large mortality events, birds with respiratory signs, diarrhoea, paralysis, that sort of thing. So, our advice is always best to report, and as the Minister said, we've got an Emergency Animal Disease Hotline, so 1800 675 888 number. We've also got information on our website. It would be better for people to report and get advice for it to be false alarm than not. So, we always encourage people to do that and that would be the best way for the public to respond.

JOURNALIST: [Indistinct] or something, you know, you would call that in?

DR SMITH: Yeah, so we are aware that there are a number of normal circumstances where birds will be injured by normal events and non, sort of, avian influenza type situations. However, if people aren't sure, best to call and they will get advice. And the advice may be, "No, you don't need to do anything" or "Yes, we will take immediate action", but the hotline is the key and that way people know where to go.

JOURNALIST: Can I ask about the vaccination program for the wild animals you see in captivity? How many species are likely to be vaccinated and how many individual birds? Are we looking at 100, a few thousand, a few tens of thousands, I mean -

DR FRASER: So that - no, I would say not a few tens of thousands. But that is work that - so, this funding that we are announcing today will help us to identify which species might be for which vaccination might be most feasible, and we're working in close partnership with the Department of Agriculture, who will work through the permits and the sort of testing arrangements that need to be undertaken to support that. I would say it would be a small number of birds that would be vaccinated, and where this would be involved in an official way [indistinct].

JOURNALIST: What's a small number, 5,000?

DR SMITH: So, I can help you. So, we've got $2 million allocated for provision of a vaccine stockpile and then for trials. So, what we will do is secure a sufficient amount that will enable us to work through what is required. So, we'll have plenty on hand and we'll have an arrangement with a supplier to make that occur. So we're confident we'll have enough to use and also for the future as well.