Doorstop at Tea Tree, Tasmania

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
DOORSTOP
TEA TREE
FRIDAY, 14 AUGUST 2026

SUBJECTS: H5 bird flu; Bell Bay Aluminium; Rushy Lagoon sale. 

JULIE COLLINS, MINISTER FOR AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FORESTRY: It's terrific to be here at Hobart Zoo and Aquarium and it's particularly, I do want to thank Stuart and Mandy for having us here. Stuart is going to talk to you about the investments that we've done as a Federal Government in terms of the early preparedness to make sure that we are protecting Australia's threatened species as much as possible from the H5 bird flu. What we do know is biosecurity is our first line of defence and I'll hand over to Stuart to talk more about what they're doing in terms of biosecurity in the first line of defence here.  

STUART WEBSTER, HOBART ZOO & AQUARIUM: Good morning. My name is Stuart Webster, the owner of Hobart Zoo & Aquarium. Very excited to be here today because the Federal Government late last year allocated $50,000 to us through the Zoo and Aquarium Association, granted $5 million, that's enabled us to create resources for education of the public. We've created resources for prep to year 10, it's all available online. We've also implemented a lot of measures with PPE gear for staff when they're entering exhibits and how to make sure that the staff are working in spaces that are safe for them and safe for our critically endangered species including the swift parrot. We've just built a brand new enclosure for our swift parrots that's completely all the measures involved in that exhibit have ensured that transmission of the virus is not going to get in touch with our birds. We have 17 critically endangered swift parrots and they are Australia's most successful breeding group. Eight of those birds are allocated to move to zoos around Australia and that should be happening in the next few months.  

COLLINS: Did you want - the birds Mandy about the H5 and then I'll do my opening statement.  

MANDY PRESTAGE, HOBART ZOO & AQUARIUM: So H5N1 avian influenza is a highly contagious virus and we are unfortunately at risk here in Tasmania with a lot of endemic species. We do have as Stuart said the critically endangered swift parrot.  We do have OBP or orange belly parrots down here but we are also concerned about our native wildlife and our native mammals as well. The biggest thing for us with the H5N1 is making sure that we are not transferring, so biosecurity is key. It is the biggest key that we have in our tool box for fighting this virus and it's all about making sure that our staff and our guests are completely aware of what needs to be done and how they can help to stop that spread.

JOURNALIST: Can I just ask a question while you're up? 

PRESTAGE: Of course. 

JOURNALIST: For either of you.  

PRESTAGE: Yeah. 

JOURNALIST: But obviously protecting staff, protecting the wildlife from bird flu is the priority. But is there a risk that at some point there might be a decision that's made where you are forced to close down and if that happens how concerning would that be, and what will you be seeking from the government?  

WEBSTER: So I'll just jump into that. 

PRESTAGE: Yep. 

WEBSTER: So around the world - Mandy and I went overseas last year and visited 20 zoos -

JOURNALIST: Sorry. 

WEBSTER: Yep. Great question. Last year Mandy and I visited 20 European zoos who have been living with the virus for the last nine years and they do manage to stay open. It's about making protected spaces for the public and ensuring that each enclosure is independent from all other enclosures. Firstly we can't afford to close down. We have a budget and we have a wages bill and we have staff who have all sorts of commitments. So because of the funding we've received we've been able to implement and make strategies and we have plan two at the moment, stage two, where we've just implemented where now all exhibits we have to wear PPE gear when we go in to them. We have foot baths that we use so I believe we're prepared.  We have a whole vet room set up with aviaries, we've just had the NRE, the government out here, to tell us how to manage birds that are deceased onsite.  

JOURNALIST: How did you react to the news yesterday that that first case had been identified in Tasmania?  

WEBSTER: We've been waiting for this. We started this plan a year ago. So we were not surprised it was going to happen 100 percent sooner or later, this virus was going to show up in Tasmania. It's how we manage the next steps and how we educate the public not to panic because zoos all over the world are surviving with this and enabling them to create spaces that are safe for the public and safe for the animals.

JOURNALIST: I noticed you've got some signage right near the entrance about bird flu. Has it been raised by people visiting the park much and are you trying to educate them as they walk around?  

WEBSTER: 100 percent. We're a smaller zoo, we have 140,000 visitors per year and we engage with all our customers, well we try to. And they are definitely asking questions and one of their biggest questions is what do we do if an animal we find that is dead and we've advised them you've got to double bag it and then you've got to sterilise the area and take photos of that space and then hand it on to the government authority. 

JOURNALIST: Along with the change that you've made to the swift parrot enclosure just up there and as well as the PPE and the foot baths that you mentioned are there any other precautions that you're taking here as staff to ensure that we can stop the spread?  

WEBSTER: Sure. We've done a really deep dive in to all the staff who have animals, all the staff who live near poultry farms, all the staff who lived near dairy farms. So we have all these statistics right now to action if we do need to lock down a certain space of the zoo because we've had an outbreak. But the reality is we're in the Coal River Valley, one of the most beautiful places in the world and we have migratory birds crossing us all the time. So we can't stop it but we can create spaces that are safe for our endangered species. And that's through the funding that we've received to create roofs on exhibits to water trays that are covered by roofs so that the droppage because it's really - mostly spread by droppings that fall into water bowls. 

JOURNALIST: What sort of action plan will you instigate if there is a case within the zoo grounds?

WEBSTER: Can I get Mandy to answer that one? She wrote it.  

PRESTAGE: Yes so that's a very good question. So as part of our preparedness plans leading up to this as Stuart said we knew it was going to happen. It wasn't a matter of when it was a matter of sorry not a matter of if, it was when.  And so we are actually at stage two right now. So stage two was enacted yesterday when we had the confirmed case in Tasmania so that means that all of the PPE equipment has gone out into the enclosures and we are sort of monitoring the high risk animals a lot more closely.  We're staying very, very vigilant. The next stage will actually be a close zoo contacts so that could be a wild bird that's found in a zoo or something like, that will go into stage three. So that is an even more heightened lock down, areas or zones of the zoo will be locked down, certain bird species will only be allowed to be tended to by certain keepers and we'll keep that very, very separate. So, again, as I stated it's all about the spread and the biosecurity. We have to make sure that that is adhered to and all of the staff are very, very aware of what to do when that case happens. We are doing regular meetings with the staff, we're keeping them up-to-date and we're letting them know what's going on.  

JOURNALIST: Are all wildlife park owners united in this or are you all formulating your own individual plans independently?  

PRESTAGE: We've actually had a lot of help from both the government and from Zoos and Aquarium Australasia and they've been reaching out and keeping us very much in the loop about what's going on, helping us on how we can actually enact these biosecurity plans, how we can make them better and ensure that we're all on the same sort of boat because at the moment it is all about that biosecurity. So we're making sure that everyone is aware of how they can actually make sure that that biosecurity plan is in place and how it can be the best plan that is possible to stop the spread. 

JOURNALIST: In terms of those escalation stages, how many stages are there?  

PRESTAGE: At the moment I have five stages. Five being a stage that I would never want to get to because unfortunately as Stuart said that would be a major site catastrophe. Stage four would be if we do have an outbreak in the zoo but at every stage we have triggers and we have things that we will actually implement and instigate along the way. 

JOURNALIST: Sorry can I just ask - how would you describe the mood among people that care for wildlife right now, is it stressful?  

PRESTAGE: Absolutely. Look, the keepers here are very, very passionate about what they do and we all know that this is not a great thing to be happening. We all know that things are going to happen along the way. There's going to be stages, at the moment it's very early days but we've seen what's happened overseas. So my staff in particular are very, very stressed about what's happening, very anxious, but again we are very prepared. So we spent the last 12 months and longer actually leading up to this moment. So they know that we are prepared, we're supporting them as much as we can, we're giving as much information as we can because at the moment the key is the information and the education. 

JOURNALIST: Just very quickly, perhaps before we move on, are there any animals at the zoo here that are perhaps more at risk of seeing adverse consequences if they do contract the flu compared to others or is the risk really the same across all the animals here?  

PRESTAGE: So they have seen overseas that some animals may contract it more regularly than other animals. We don't know that in Australia yet. We have different species here in Australia than they do overseas so we can't say exactly what is going to happen. This is the first time it's happened here. We are more concentrating on the high risk species so those that are critically endangered in Tasmania in particular we have as I said those two species of birds and we are also concerned about our mammals here. They're endemic to Tasmania. So it is a bit of learning but we're doing everything we can to make sure that we're on top of it along the way.  

JOURNALIST: Thanks so much.

JOURNALIST: Minister, you've probably been told there's been another confirmed case of bird flu so it's now two and a couple of extra birds I think have been reported. 

COLLINS: That’s right.  

JOURNALIST: How concerning is it that this is happening so fast?  

COLLINS: Yeah so we have 186 bird flu events, H5 bird flu events in Australia to date. In Tasmania overnight obviously we've had the additional positive on a tern in King Island and there are some more suspect birds I understand. So certainly I think Tasmanians will be concerned about this but I don't think that people are surprised. It is very disappointing, but not unexpected. We will expect to see more reports of dead and sick birds here in Tasmania and across the country as the H5 bird flu virus does travel across the country.  

JOURNALIST: Yesterday’s one was a brown skua, which is obviously a migratory bird. This one is it a migratory bird or is it just a located here in Australia or Tasmania?  

COLLINS: It's a tern that are located across Australia and what we've seen in the amount of infections, the highest number of infections in Australia is currently in the terns and particularly in an outbreak between the border of South Australia and Victoria. And we've certainly seen some of that moving and clearly of course we now have one of those on King Island. So that is obviously concerning news for Tasmanians but as I said not unexpected. We will expect to see more reports of sick and dead birds here in Tasmania and across the country but I think what you've just heard from Stuart and Mandy is that we are as prepared as we possibly can be and that our early investments will show fruition in terms of, and have, in terms of how quickly we have detected these here in Tasmania and in Australia and how we are able to map the disease as it moves across the country. 

JOURNALIST: Just one more, if the zoos like this one and other wildlife parks, Bonorong and the like, if they are forced to, if they get to that level four or level five and are forced to close their doors, will the Federal Government provide any financial support for the staff?

COLLINS: So as I've said we've invested early the $113 million. Since it was determined that it was not able to be eradicated in Australian wildlife, the Commonwealth and the states and territories have unlocked another $24.8 million in terms of dealing and responding to the disease. And we have well established frameworks in Australia for funding with industry in terms of outbreaks and biosecurity incursion already in Australia. So that is a long-standing agreement that we have and we have an agreement for the H5 bird flu with the states and territories and industry in terms of how we will fund the outbreak. 

JOURNALIST: Just to be clear what would happen in that scenario? 

COLLINS: Well as I said, any decisions taken will be guided by expert advice from the experts from the states, territories and the Commonwealth and our wildlife experts and industry experts and any decisions around cost sharing will also be made through that forum. 

JOURNALIST:  Two quick questions on the vaccination roll out. The Victorian government has obviously requested 5,000 doses for the little penguins on Phillip Island. You mentioned earlier this week that the Federal Government has procured 1500. There's obviously a difference there. What will happen?  

COLLINS: So we're talking a difference here, so let me be very clear, what we've done as a Federal Government is we've invested $2 million in procuring the vaccines, and we have 1500 vials of vaccines, but we've also invested obviously in the testing through the CSIRO to get the scientific data so that we can get the emergency permit to administer the vaccines in some Australian birds. The decisions about what will be vaccinated will be made by the states and territories. I've also been very clear that if we need further vaccine, we will go through a process to obtain that, but you shouldn't think that one vial is one vaccine because in some cases depending on the size of the bird that vial can vaccinate I'm told up to hundreds of birds. Depends on the size of the bird, depends on the size of the dose. 

JOURNALIST: Yep. And then on the Tasmanian wedge tailed eagle do you know if there are any plans to vaccinate that critically endangered species and what is the risk to that individual species more broadly?  

COLLINS: So we've obviously done the work as I said about investing in procuring the vaccine, getting the scientific data in terms of being able to get an emergency permit to administer it. We are now working with states and territories and states and territories are preparing their lists of the most vulnerable native species and the vaccination programs that they want to undertake. Here in Tasmania I understand the Tasmanian government has indicated that it will vaccinate the orange bellied parrot, in Victoria they've talked about little penguins and in Western Australia some black cockatoos specifically at Perth Zoo. So each state and territory will make those decisions on the basis of the vulnerability of the native species.

JOURNALIST: Who found this latest tern and what was the condition it was found in?  

COLLINS: My understanding is that it was found on King Island. I don't have the details around it but I do understand the Tasmanian Premier and the state government will stand up at around 2 o'clock to provide you with some more information. 

JOURNALIST: We heard before that one of the risks relates to bird droppings. What's your advice to farmers who might rely on rainwater both for their animals but also for human consumption? 

COLLINS: As you've heard biosecurity is our strongest line of defence and that's why since coming to Government we've now invested an additional $2 billion in biosecurity but importantly we've also been working really closely with the agriculture industry in terms of our biosecurity and improving biosecurity. We also learned a lot from the H7 bird flu incursions and we have improved biosecurity and on farm biosecurity with industry over the last few years. 

JOURNALIST: On the suspected birds that you mentioned earlier do you know how many are suspected of potentially having the virus and where they were?  

COLLINS: My understanding is that there were more terns on King Island and that the State government will be able to provide you with some more information later today.

JOURNALIST: I've got a question about Bell Bay Aluminum. Obviously yesterday, there was the funding announced for Tomago. Can you clarify if Bell Bay Aluminum is eligible for the green aluminum production credits?  

COLLINS: What we have said and done in terms of Bell Bay Aluminum and what you've seen with industrial sites right across Tasmania is we've worked with the State Government and you've also seen that from us interstate and you've seen that right across the country in terms of sovereign capability and our Future Made in Australia.  Here in Tasmania you've seen from the federal government investments in Boyer, investments in Nyrstar, we've invested in terms of, Liberty Bell Bay, so we have been working very closely with the Tasmanian state government when it comes to Bell Bay Aluminum this of course is around a power contract that is within the power of the Tasmanian state government. 

JOURNALIST: To the question though, yes or no answer is fine, can you clarify if Bell Bay Aluminum is eligible for green aluminum production credits?  

COLLINS: What I would say is we continue to have conversations with Bell Bay Aluminum and the Tasmanian state government. 

JOURNALIST: Is it eligible though given - I might just - you would be aware Tim Ayres last year was asked on the ABC whether it would be eligible and he said yes. But yesterday he was asked and he wouldn't give a definitive response. Sounds like you're not giving a definitive response either. 

COLLINS: What I'll say is we continue to work with Bell Bay Aluminum and the Tasmanian state government in relation to the future of Bell Bay here in Tasmania. 

JOURNALIST: I believe it was July 27, Jess Teesdale said that it wasn't, was she correct?  

COLLINS: As I said we'll continue to have the conversations with the Tasmanian state government and Bell Bay Aluminum. 

JOURNALIST: Has the Tasmanian government come to you with a request for an amount of funding and if so what is that amount and will you provide it?  

COLLINS: I understand that Minister Tim Ayres has been in regular discussions with the Tasmanian Premier in relation to Bell Bay Aluminum and in relation to other industrial sites throughout the last few years here in Tasmania and what you've seen from the Albanese Labor Government is we have been investing in Tasmania, in jobs for Tasmanians, and in terms of our sovereign capability as a nation. 

JOURNALIST: But do you know if the Federal Government has actually received a proposal from the state? 

COLLINS: I know that there have been discussions between Minister Ayres and the Premier in relation to Bell Bay Aluminum. 

JOURNALIST: Can you guarantee that the federal government will provide financial support to cover that $60 million gap that the state’s Energy Minister says is still outstanding with this power deal?  

COLLINS: Look, as I've said, we continue to have discussions with the Tasmanian state government and with Bell Bay Aluminum. What you've seen from our government and what has been demonstrated around the country is our investments in sovereign capability, in jobs here in Tasmania and in Australia, and you've seen it in terms of the investments in Nyrstar, the investments at Boyer, the investments in terms of Liberty Bell Bay, we continue to have those discussions with the Tasmanian state government and with Bell Bay Aluminum. 

JOURNALIST: So we've seen it before but you can't guarantee this time around with the outstanding power deal?  

COLLINS: We continue to have discussions. 

JOURNALIST: On Rushy Lagoon the state Parliament last night passed a motion to set up an inquiry into the process and the sale of that farmland. Does that show that there are more questions to be answered here from the Federal Government and other stakeholders around the process that was involved in this sale and whether or not it was the best decision for the community?  

COLLINS: Look I think the vast majority of Tasmanians appreciate we're talking about a $140 million plus invested in northern Tasmania that will create jobs in northern Tasmania at a time when northern Tasmania needs that investment. I'm sure the vast majority of Tasmanians will also be disappointed that the Tasmanian Parliament is wasting time and resources into what is a private land sale, for land that had been on the market for almost a decade. 

JOURNALIST: There's a lot of community concern and particularly among the farming community up north though. Is it reasonable that the Parliament takes steps to maybe try and flesh out more answers in light of all that concern?  

COLLINS: Look, this is a private land sale that occurred and what I would say is that it had been on the market for some time. What I would say is I think the Tasmanian state government are after a few deflections given the issues that they have with Tasmanian farmers.