Interview with Lisa Miller, ABC News Breakfast

11 June 2024

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
TELEVISION INTERVIEW
ABC NEWS BREAKFAST
TUESDAY, 11 JUNE 2024

SUBJECTS: Avian influenza; Australia’s egg supply; live sheep export phase out; Opposition’s mess of a climate plan

LISA MILLAR, HOST: Authorities are urging people to not panic buy eggs as Coles imposes a two-carton limit after bird flu was found at five poultry farms in Victoria. Agriculture Minister Murray Watt joins us now from Canberra. Good morning to you, Minister. Welcome to the program.

MURRAY WATT, MINISTER FOR AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FORESTRY: G'day, Lisa. Good to be with you.

LISA MILLAR: It's a bit of a balance here, isn't it? You don't want to worry people, but we do need to know the facts here. So can you tell us what is the actual situation with this bird flu on these poultry farms?

MURRAY WATT: Sure, Lisa. Well the most important thing for all of your viewers who are enjoying their eggs for breakfast this morning is that there's no reason to expect that we're facing a national shortage of eggs. I know there was a little bit of alarm yesterday, prompted by Coles making a pre-emptive decision to limit egg sales to two cartons per customer. Obviously, many other retailers have not followed suit, so people are able to shop around if they do need to buy more than two dozen. Personally, I don't think I've ever bought more than one dozen eggs at one time. But I know there might be people who need to get larger stocks, and those stocks are available.

What has happened here is that there are currently five poultry or egg farms in Victoria that have been infected with a particular strain of avian flu. It's important to note that that is not the highly dangerous strain of avian flu that we have seen circulating in other parts of the world. And obviously, as a protective exercise, the poultry in those farms have been euthanised to ensure that the virus doesn't spread more rapidly and become a bigger problem. But the bottom line is that every day, Australia produces 18 million eggs every day, and there's no risk to that supply stopping anytime soon.

LISA MILLAR: So the numbers we're looking at, and correct me if I'm wrong, but the Victorian Farmers Federation said that in Victoria, 1 in 16 egg-laying chickens have been destroyed, so one in 16. So that's reduced the state's supply by about 450,000 eggs a day. I know you say 18 million is the number we're all consuming, but taking 450,000 eggs out, OK, we can deal with that at the moment? But why are you so comfortable or confident that it isn't going to then spiral to more farms and become an even bigger problem?

MURRAY WATT: Well, of course, when you have this kind of an outbreak, there is always the possibility that it becomes bigger. But what I've seen and observed and spoken with the Victorian Minister about is that the Victorian Government has done a fantastic job in getting on the front foot early to limit the spread of this disease. And that's why, frankly, we haven't seen more properties infected than we already have. We certainly don't want to be complacent about this and any biosecurity outbreak in Australia needs to be taken seriously. But, as I say, the actions of the Victorian Government that we've been supporting as a Federal Government give me some confidence that we don't need to be fearful about a national shortage.

The figures that you just quoted may be the case for Victoria, but if you're looking at it at a national perspective, we have around 21 million-22 million egg-laying hens in the country. There's been about 1 million affected and euthanised, or in the process of being euthanised, which is about 4 per cent of the overall national flock, if you like, of egg-laying hens. So, again, I don't want to be complacent about this and we do need to act quickly and carefully, but people can be confident that we've got this in hand.

LISA MILLAR: Right, so why is it - why has it spread? Is it something that can be eradicated or a bit like COVID, we've got to live with it?

MURRAY WATT: No, certainly the Victorian Government believes, and we believe as well, that this is something that can be eradicated, provided we put in a lot of effort at a very early stage. And that's exactly what's happening. Unfortunately for the hens involved in this, they do need to be euthanised as a way of making sure that the virus doesn't spread more rapidly. Essentially, avian flu is a form of respiratory disease, and if there is any contact between infected hens and non-infected hens, that's when you do face the risk of spread happening. So making sure that we essentially lockdown the properties that are infected, euthanise the hens involved, that's our best way of making sure that this doesn't spread more widely.

LISA MILLAR: OK, just a quick one on one other subject, and that's the live sheep exports. The last time you were on the program we were chatting about this. You went to the election saying that you would ban live sheep exports, WA being the state that's most affected, from May 2028. Now, you've said you'll allow a committee to look into it before the legislation goes through. Is there anything that will change your mind on this, because there are a lot of outraged sheep farmers in WA?

MURRAY WATT: Look, I want to be really upfront with people, and this is something that the Government took to two elections on the trot. We did promise to phase out live sheep exports in response to widespread community concern about animal welfare, and we intend to proceed with that policy. However, I did think it was important that the House of Representatives Committee has an opportunity to review the legislation before any vote is taken by either chamber of parliament, and those hearings will occur in Canberra and Perth this week. But we need to remember that there are massive opportunities for Western Australia and the country as a whole to increase the onshore processing of sheep.

At the same time that we've seen live sheep exports plummet over the last 20 years, we've seen massive booms in the amount of sheep meat that we're exporting right around the world, as well as domestic consumption. And that's where the value adding will be in the future. That's where the jobs will be in the future, and that's what we want to deliver to Western Australia.

LISA MILLAR: Murray Watt, there's been a lot of criticism from the Government towards the Opposition over climate in the last 48 hours or so, but the experts say the Federal Government, at this point, is not going to meet its targets. We're going to be talking to expert Tony Wood very shortly, who is reiterating that as well. That's the truth, isn't it? That at the moment, the way we're heading, Australia won't be meeting the targets that the Albanese Government set.

MURRAY WATT: Well, I have seen that there are various views from various different commentators, but the official figures show - the most recent figures - that we are on track to meet that target. We're on track to get to 42 percent, which is only 1 percent short of the 43 per cent target. And that's before you take into account some of the recent policies that the Government announced in the recent Budget.

I think the important thing here, Lisa, is that really what this shows is that we're back to the same old climate wars in the Coalition. I saw overnight that Barnaby Joyce and Keith Pitt, two senior Nationals, have openly called for the Coalition to pull out of the Paris Agreement. They've spent the last couple of days trying to paper over the cracks in the Coalition, saying that they can withdraw the targets without withdrawing from the Agreement, now it's out there in the open for everyone to see. And you can set your clock by Barnaby Joyce causing new climate wars within the Coalition. It seems like we're back to the bad old days.

LISA MILLAR: Murray Watt, got to leave it there. Thanks for your time.

MURRAY WATT: Thanks Lisa.