Interview with Peter Stefanovic, News24 First Edition

E&OE TRANSCRIPT 
TV INTERVIEW  
NEWS24 FIRST EDITION
WEDNESDAY, 5 AUGUST 2026 

SUBJECTS: H5 bird flu; Housing market. 

PETER STEFANOVIC, HOST: Well, economists have warned a major outbreak of bird flu in Australia could add to inflationary pressures unless governments and industry can limit the spread. Joining us live now is the Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Minister, Julie Collins. Minister, thanks for your time this morning. So, you've said that you can't stop native and wild birds from flying around, and that makes sense. So, with that said, how do you stop the spread?

JULIE COLLINS, MINISTER FOR AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES, FORESTRY: Well, obviously we have learnt from overseas, particularly in relation to threatened species in captivity, and we've done a lot of work there in terms of protecting their habitats, improving the biosecurity, but we've also been working importantly with our industries, such as our dairy industry, our egg and our chicken meat industries, to do everything we can do to improve their biosecurity systems, to keep it out of our agricultural production systems. So, we have been working incredibly hard, and industry has been working incredibly hard to make sure that we're doing everything we can possibly do as a government. But as you indicated, we have also been very clear that this is very contagious and very virulent, and what we've seen across the globe is that it does spread and it spreads very, very quickly.

STEFANOVIC. So, what's the ratio of bird and mammal species here? How many of them are at risk? I've heard that it could be as much as one in five.

COLLINS: Well, the department of environment has done an assessment of our threatened species, and that was made public, I think, late yesterday, and looks at those mammals and those birds that may be impacted. But certainly, as a federal government, you know, we are working incredibly hard to do what we can do, understanding that across the world, what we have seen is that this disease is very virulent, very contagious, that it does wipe out millions of birds and mammals across the globe.

STEFANOVIC: Is there any guarantee you can give that it can be stopped from seeping into poultry and dairy industries?

COLLINS: As I said, we have been working incredibly hard with our industries and particularly our egg-producing and chicken meat industries, because we have dealt with two H7 bird flu incursions in the past few years and we've been able to successfully eradicate those. So, we've learnt lessons from that. We're obviously also talking to overseas jurisdictions and what they've learned in relation to keeping or getting the H5 bird flu and getting rid of it and eradicating it. So, we are learning from others overseas. And what I can reiterate now is that at this point in time, there is no evidence in our poultry or agricultural systems. And that is really important.

STEFANOVIC: Yes, but that could change?

COLLINS: Well, we have seen overseas, as I said, it does spill over into agriculture industries, but we are doing everything we can do to try and stop that.

STEFANOVIC: So, I mean, if it does, how inflationary would that be? I mean, in terms of egg and chicken prices?

COLLINS: Well, obviously, during the H7 incursions, we did learn a lot from that. We're working with farmers and producers to get production up as quickly as possible once we get those incursions. So, we have learnt a lot from our previous incursions of the H7 virus. And as I said, we are also learning from the experience overseas. So, it will depend on the size of the incursion, it will depend on whether or not we can keep it out. But at this point in time, there is none in our poultry or agriculture systems.

STEFANOVIC: Would be inflationary, though?

COLLINS: Well, we're doing everything that we can do to keep it out of our agricultural and poultry.

STEFANOVIC: With numbers rising, I mean, what's the trigger point for compensation or culling protocols?

COLLINS: Well, we obviously have in Australia a very well-established way of dealing with biosecurity incursions. We have agreements with industry and with state and territories on a cost-sharing basis. So, we have one of those for the H5 bird flu. We have enacted that. We have released some funding on top of the $113 million that we have invested in preparedness, and that's now an additional $24.8 million. We continue to work with industry and with states and territories around what else is required.

STEFANOVIC: Ok, just elsewhere this morning, Minister, I mean, on housing. NAB is just the latest to issue a dire forecast for housing today, with expectations that price falls would become more severe over the next 12 months in the biggest markets such as Sydney and Melbourne. So, a drop of 10 per cent there. Do you welcome those price drops?

COLLINS: Well, what we want to see, of course, is housing prices stabilise and increase gradually over time. What we want to see is more first-home buyers and more people into the housing market, and that's certainly what our government's housing policies have always been about. It's about making sure there's more opportunities for more Australians to own their own home.

STEFANOVIC. So, are you happy to see those price falls, then?

COLLINS: What I've said is that the Treasury modelling over time expects house prices to continue to go up, but at a more steady rate.

STEFANOVIC: It's not happening at the moment, though.

COLLINS: Well, over the medium to longer term, we certainly expect that house prices will continue to increase in Australia. And as I said, what we want to see and what our housing policies are about, about making sure that more Australians get the opportunity to get into the housing market.

STEFANOVIC: What about those who are forced to sell in the short term?

COLLINS: Well, we continue to work on building more supply in terms of our housing. Making sure that there are more homes of every type for more Australians, and that's what you've seen from our government in terms of our investments. Certainly when you talk about the current housing market, we know that it's impacted by a whole range of factors, interest rates, global issues, supply issues. And that's why we're focused on getting on supply and getting more homes on the ground.

STEFANOVIC: Julie Collins, appreciate your time this morning. Thank you.