Interview with Ashleigh Gillon, News24 Politics Now

E&EO TRANSCRIPT 
TELEVISION INTERVIEW 
NEWS24 POLITICS NOW  
THURSDAY, 15 OCTOBER 2026  

SUBJECTS: GREENS SENATOR, FIRE ANT DETECTION, H5 BIRD FLU 

ASHLEIGH GILLON, HOST: Also an issue in Canberra this week was the recent detection of invasive red fire ants in Sydney’s inner west. It has authorities, of course, on high alert. The nest has been destroyed, but authorities are warning that the pest has likely spread beyond the logistic centre where they were first found. Joining us with more on this is the Agriculture Minister, Julie Collins. Minister, thanks so much for your time. Appreciate it.  

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

GILLON: I do want to ask you about that issue, and I will in just a moment. But first I wanted your response to this breaking news this afternoon. You’re a former Minister for the Status of Women. Are you confident the Greens are handling these allegations against Senator Jordon Steele-John appropriately? 

COLLINS: These are obviously concerning allegations and they should be dealt with appropriately. They should be investigated appropriately. And I understand from the statements that have been made by the Greens that they will investigate them, and they should. And they should do that very thoroughly. And certainly my thoughts are with any women that may be impacted or being traumatised by this investigation that’s being undertaken by the Greens.  

GILLON: The Greens Senator, Jordon Steele-John does reject these allegations. We understand they stem back to 2018. So much, as you know better than most, has been done in politics in recent years – certainly since I was in the federal Press Gallery – to improve women’s safety at Parliament House. It must dishearten you, though, every time we see further allegations coming up against elected officials like this.  

COLLINS: It certainly does. And certainly people have a right to feel safe at work, and that includes in this building, in Parliament, and in other parts across the country, whether people are working in politics or in other workplaces, Ash. And certainly every woman should feel safe at work, and these allegations should be tested and they should be investigated, as I understand they will be. What I would say is the Greens should be pretty open about the results of this investigation and when they intend to conclude this investigation.  

GILLON: So you’d like to see the results of that investigation released publicly? Because David Shoebridge wasn’t committing to that earlier.  

COLLINS: Well, I do think given that it’s, you know, in a workplace here in Parliament House that they should be transparent about the process that they’re undertaking in relation to that investigation. They’re investigating it, and they should be. 

GILLON: Ok. Let’s turn to red imported fire ants. As I understand it, no other nests have been discovered, but authorities are saying that they have likely spread beyond that site in Sydney’s Inner West. Was there a failure of communication here? We heard from the New South Wales Minister for Agriculture, Tara Moriarty, saying confirmation from the Federal Government that these insects, you know, were there took longer than it should have.  

COLLINS: Well, obviously, Ash, we go about routine inspections of what are accredited sites. So the owner of this site does biosecurity there on a regular basis. My Department does routine inspections. As part of the baiting and the routine inspection that was undertaken on this site on the 23rd of September, some ants were discovered. We advised New South Wales the very next day. By the 25th of September, so another day later, it was confirmed that they were fire ants. And by the 28th of September, the nest that was located had the eradication treatment, as had the surrounding area. My officials advise me that there’s no further evidence of any fire ants detected in the area and that they continue to do tracing, they continue to do surveillance and they continue to do baiting. We are taking this incredibly seriously. Our government has invested very heavily in additional biosecurity funding since we’ve come to office now, more than $2 billion. We’re certainly working very closely with the New South Wales Government on the ground in relation to this detection. These detections are not unusual. We do get these detections from time to time. We have done the genetic testing of these fire ants, and it is not one that is similar to the one from South-East Queensland, so it is a new detection from elsewhere from overseas. And we continue to take the experts’ advice and work with the technical experts on the ground in relation to this detection, as we would. This is the same process that has been undertaken by previous governments. This process and the technical experts we are relying on are the same processes and procedures that have been undertaken in previous detections when we’ve had these incursions before. 

GILLON: Okay. So you said you’re taking this very seriously and I saw that you pointed to funding levels here. I see that the Invasive Species Council CEO, Jack Gough, has been warning of a funding cliff. He’s saying the scale of investment – and this is a quote – “doesn’t match the scale of the threat.” Is your government working on a plan for a serious injection of funding to stop the spread?  

COLLINS: Well, together with states and territories now we’ve invested almost $600 million over the last few years, and what we know is under the former government there was a funding cliff. But certainly, our Federal Government now has contributed over $290 million to part of the fire ant eradication plan. That is matched by states and territories and takes the total to over $590 million, so almost $600 million. That funding is due to end on the 30th of June next year, and we are consulting and working with states and territories based on expert advice about what is required in terms of future funding in relation to eradication. The technical experts advise us that it’s still able to be eradicated from Australia, and we continue to work with those experts and take the experts’ advice in relation to the eradication of fire ants in Australia and in relation to this new detection in New South Wales.  

GILLON: Minister, on bird flu, how serious has that become? We know it’s spread beyond birds. What other animals has it now been detected into this point? Is there any evidence of mammal-to-mammal transmission, and how would you characterise the risk to humans?  

COLLINS: Thanks. Certainly, we’ve had over 706 events now in Australia. An event could be more than one detection. It could be several birds or a large number of the birds, and that’s the way they are now being categorised by the experts across the country. We’ve had, sadly, advice today that the current mission from Macquarie Island did take samples and upon their return we’ve had two suspected positives, one in a gull and one in an elephant seal. But other species that were tested have tested negative, and I’m advised that there was no evidence of any mass mortalities or large-scale impact on wildlife when the people left Macquarie Island from the Antarctic Division at that point in time. Certainly, we continue to electronically monitor Macquarie Island and surveil that. But it is concerning that we are now seeing some detections in mammals. And in terms of the national numbers, we have seen detections in various mammals. We’ve had a detection in a fox. We’ve had detections in marine mammals, dolphins and other animals. So certainly, we are seeing this H5 bird flu move its way across Australia. We’ve been pretty upfront with the Australian public. We can’t stop it, but what we have done is we have invested in preparing and getting ready for it. We’ve strengthened our biosecurity. We’ve worked with our egg and agriculture industries to tighten biosecurity. We’ve worked with wildlife section and experts in relation to protecting as much wildlife. You’ve seen from us what is globally leading in terms of an H5 vaccination program. Our scientists and experts have been testing what was a poultry vaccine for use in wild birds, and we’re now vaccinating wild birds and we’ve done over 3,000 of those to date and approved around 12,000 for vaccinations. And we announced today that we’re going to do some little penguins on Granite Island with the South Australian Government. So certainly, we’re doing everything we can do as a Federal Government. We’ve also got the national ad campaign that is running particularly in those areas where there is local transmission of the H5 bird flu to give practical advice to people on how they can protect their backyard pets, their backyard chickens, and if you’re going out and about in the wildlife what to expect and to make sure that people do not touch any dead birds or animals but they do report them and that they go to birdflu.gov.au to get all the advice and information that they might need. So we’re taking this, again, incredibly seriously and, again, it has been by upfront funding and early investment from our government that you’ve seen over $270 million now that we are investing in terms of the response to the H5 bird flu and working, again, really closely with states and territories, with industry and with the wildlife experts in relation to its impact in Australia. 

GILLON: Agricultural Minister Julie Collins, appreciate the update. Thanks so much.