Television interview, News24 Afternoon Agenda

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
TELEVISION INTERVIEW
NEWS24 AFTERNOON AGENDA
TUESDAY, 28 JULY 2026

SUBJECTS: H5 bird flu, Victorian Government, ABC.

TRUDY MCINTOSH, HOST: There are growing concerns today about the spread of H5 bird flu across the country. The CSIRO has confirmed a further seven cases in birds in South Australia. Joining me live from the CSIRO’s Centre for Disease Preparedness is the Federal Agriculture Minister, Julie Collins.

JULIE COLLINS, MINISTER FOR AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FORESTRY: Good afternoon.

MCINTOSH: Julie, are you concerned that this could be a sign that we’re seeing local transmission of bird flu, or is it still the belief that is birds that have flown to Australia?

COLLINS: Well, I think it’s important here that we look at what the evidence shows us to date. This is now 27 birds that Australia has had confirmed with the H5N1 bird flu virus, as we call it. And this H5 bird flu, as we know overseas and we’ve seen what it can do, we’ve been really lucky here in Australia that we have not had the disease for the past two years that has been spreading globally. But clearly it’s now arrived on Australian shores. What exactly that looks like and the detail, we are getting more work done by the CSIRO laboratory here to be able to tell us that, to see if they can actually provide us with more information in terms of what has occurred here. But to reiterate, we’re talking 27 wild birds. These have all been found along the coast. They’re coastal birds in Australia, and at this stage we have no evidence of any mass mortalities, nor is there any evidence of it being in our poultry or agriculture systems, and the risk to human health remains low, which is a really important message for Australians. The other really important message here, of course, is if people see these dead birds or other dead animals to make sure that they avoid touching them, that they do report them and they do go through to birdflu.gov.au to that phone number to report it.

MCINTOSH: How confident are you, though, that there hasn’t been local transmission? Are you able to tell that from the CSIRO testing that these birds are ones that have flown here and that they haven’t been contracting it whilst in Australia?

COLLINS: Well, our fabulous scientists at CSIRO are actually doing the work to see if we can tell. What they have been able to tell to date is in that first tern that we found a week or so ago is that that had the same sequencing and the same virus of the subantarctic migratory birds. So we need to allow the CSIRO the time to be able to do that important scientific work to see what they may be able to tell us in the coming days. And as soon as we have an update, we’ll make that public, as we have at every stage of this H5 incursion. We’re being as upfront with the Australian public at the very earliest opportunity we can.

MCINTOSH: Julie, I wanted to ask you about – you’re standing there in Geelong at the moment – the big change in Labor for Victoria, a new Premier in Ben Carroll. He’s promising a new direction, replacing Jacinta Allan. What’s your reaction? Is this a fresh face or is it going to be more of the same? That’s already been the attack from the Victorian opposition – that he was a key lieutenant underneath Dan Andrews and Jacinta Allan.

COLLINS: Well, obviously I would say best wishes to the outgoing Premier Jacinta Allan. She has been a terrific advocate for the people of Victoria both here in Victoria and also at the national level. And obviously I do wish Premier – incoming Premier Ben Carroll all the very best. And I know that Victoria has a proud history of having great Premiers and standing up for their home state at the federal level. And certainly my engagement with the Victorians and former Premier or the incoming Premier has always been terrific. And, you know, when it comes to important issues like we’re dealing with here with the H5 bird flu, what we know is that Victoria is always at that table and they’re always participating in the national interest.

MCINTOSH: We saw today as one of his first acts the new Premier announcing a Royal Commission into Big Build corruption. He says it will be established as soon as possible. Does that now mean there needs to be a willingness within federal Labor to admit that there are credible allegations of corruption within the Big Build, that this needs to be looked at?

COLLINS: Well, what you’ve seen at the federal level is actually us take very significant action – more action than any previous governments – when it comes to the union involved around that. And you’ve seen us interfere in terms of the CFMEU and you’ve seen strong action from the Commonwealth Government. We have done and acted faster and quicker and done more than any other Government before us, and we will continue, of course, as a Federal Government to make sure that our investments, the federal taxpayer investments right across the country –

MCINTOSH: But the very fact that one has been announced in Victoria would give you a sense that there’s some credibility to the allegations that taxpayers’ money that is been used in inappropriate ways here. The actions you’re referring to are not specific to the Big Build allegations.

COLLINS: Well, what I would say is obviously is that it is a matter for the Premier and the Victorian government, and they have made that decision. And obviously we’ll wait for the outcomes of that Royal Commission to see what that Royal Commission says. What our responsibility as a Federal Government is to make sure that we get the very best value for taxpayer dollars, that we invest both here in Victoria and right across the country. And certainly we are doing that.

MCINTOSH: We saw Jacinta Allan today in her resignation speech get emotional about she said she didn’t want this to be a lesson to other women not to enter politics as a result, that it can be a brutal business, but she didn’t want women to be discouraged. Do you think it was harder for her because she was a female Premier, or is that irrelevant these days in politics?

COLLINS: Well, as I said, I do certainly wish Jacinta Allan all the very best. She was a terrific Premier here in Victoria, and she’s a terrific human being. And certainly she has stood up for Victoria. And, you know, we all know that in politics, you know, we put ourselves out there in the public and we know what comes with that. And people have to have a certain toughness about them going into politics. But I think that all of us who are, you know, involved in being in the public spotlight, including journalists and others, you know, the social media and what’s happening in the public arena is getting tougher, there’s no doubt about that.

MCINTOSH: Well, it brings me on a related note – I mean, you may not have seen this issue this week. There was a clip aired on the ABC on a program that made some pretty violent comments about Gina Rinehart and depicting an assault on her. The ABC hasn’t apologised for that. I’ll just show you the clip and I’ll just get your reaction.

SPEAKER: Because when the revolution comes, will you hide under your bed or will you know exactly how to shove a stick right up Gina Rinehart’s butthole, stirring it round, mixing her guts up nice and smooth.

MCINTOSH: Labor rightly called out the Ditch the Witch language that was used against Julia Gillard and we saw it against Jacinta Allan. I mean, that sort of language when it’s used against someone like Gina Rinehart is not right either, is it? Would it just be right for an apology from the public broadcaster here?

COLLINS: My first response to any of that sort of thing is always kindness first and understanding, and certainly I do think both in politics and in the public eye we all need to be an awful lot kinder. And I think kindness gets us a lot further. And, you know, I’ll leave it up to the ABC. I understand that they have made some comment around it, and that’s up to them. But what I would say is I always start from a point of kindness first.

MCINTOSH: Julie Collins, Agriculture Minister, appreciate your time today from a pretty windy Geelong there. Thank you.

ENDS