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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2025-11-26 Daily Xml
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Ministerial Statement

H5N1 High Pathogenicity Avian Influenza, Wildlife Preparedness

The Hon. L.P. HOOD (Adelaide—Minister for Climate, Environment and Water) (14:05): I seek leave to make a ministerial statement.

Leave granted.

The Hon. L.P. HOOD: Just over 12 months ago, the Hon. Dr Susan Close rose to speak in this place on the work underway to prepare our state for the arrival of the H5N1 high pathogenicity avian influenza, which I refer to as H5 bird flu. Today, I rise to update the house on the status of H5 bird flu and the preparatory work that has been undertaken to date to best manage its impacts if it arrives.

Across all continents other than ours, this virus continues to have significant impacts on wildlife. Overseas, it also continues to impact heavily on commercial poultry. Since my predecessor's statement, the list of species affected by H5 bird flu has sadly grown. Unfortunately, there are now nearly 560 species of wild birds and around 100 species of mammals known to be affected. Late last month, Australian Antarctic Program scientists visiting subantarctic Heard Island observed signs of unusual levels of mortality in elephant seals, consistent with H5 bird flu in wildlife. Sadly, the presence of the virus on Heard Island has now been confirmed by laboratory testing.

Heard Island is extremely remote, and located around 4,000 kilometres from mainland Australia, more than 5,000 kilometres from South Australia, the equivalent distance of Adelaide to Singapore. While this detection does not substantially increase the risk of the virus arriving on mainland Australia, the news reinforces the ongoing need for Australia to remain focused on preparing for a potential outbreak of H5 bird flu.

Unfortunately, the virus cannot be prevented from arriving and, in many cases, mortality events in wildlife will likely be unavoidable. Many Australian native species are endemic and found nowhere else in the world. Consequently, the best way for us to prepare our native wildlife for H5 bird flu is to act now to ensure strong, healthy populations across the geographic range. This means continuing and, where possible, increasing efforts to support species recovery and reduce the impacts of threats other than H5 bird flu.

What is immediately important is taking action to build resilience in species that are likely to be susceptible to H5 bird flu by addressing existing threats. Here in South Australia, the Department for Primary Industries and Regions is leading a collaborative effort with the Department for Environment and Water and other government agencies, notably some landscape boards, to expand the existing disease surveillance programs and prepare for the likely impacts of H5 bird flu.

More broadly, South Australian government agencies are working with the Australian government, government agencies in other states and territories, and a range of non-government organisations, particularly Wildlife Health Australia and Animal Health Australia, to establish coordinated preparedness and response plans.

Given the threat that H5 bird flu poses to Australian sea lions, on-ground conservation actions to improve resilience in some sea lion populations prior to the arrival of the disease are currently underway. On 3 October, I announced $1.4 million in joint funding with the Australian and South Australian governments to enable conservation actions to be undertaken at sea lion colonies on Kangaroo Island, Eyre Peninsula and the West Coast. These conservation actions, which address existing threats to the species, involve treating pups for hookworm, mitigating thermal stress by installing pup shelters, and managing feral cats, which are known carriers of H5 bird flu and parasites such as toxoplasma.

We are working with the federal government to prepare for the H5 bird flu, with the following investments boosting South Australia's efforts: $300,000 to support species and site preparedness planning and more than $130,000 to protect captive populations of threatened species in facilities across the state. Today, the Minister for Primary Industries and Regions announced a new mobile biosecurity lab, which will improve the state's ability to respond to emergency animal disease, including H5 bird flu. The state-of-the-art lab enables rapid processing of samples and can be directly deployed to impacted areas and is a significant boost to the protection of our primary industries. While I focus today on wildlife, it is important to recognise that H5 bird flu is also causing significant impacts on poultry industries overseas and it is likely to be similar if it arrives here.

Given these issues, it is reassuring that PIRSA has plans in place to manage the incursion of H5 bird flu as it does for other pests and diseases, as particularly of national agreements between Australian governments and livestock industries. PIRSA also recently held bird flu preparedness workshops with the poultry industries and will continue to keep the industry informed of the latest developments.

I conclude today by highlighting how important it is that the general community is kept informed and aware of the threat posed by H5 bird flu. To help mitigate this impact I encourage members of the public to learn more about the disease's impacts that it might have by accessing information on websites such as PIRSA, Department for Environment and Water, SA Health or equivalent Australian government websites. These websites share useful, trustworthy and contemporary information about H5 bird flu.

Members of the community can also assist by undertaking activities that help to build the resilience of our native wildlife. These activities can include pest and animal weed control, habitat creation or restoration. For anyone looking to join in these activities, joining a friends of parks or local landcare group or contacting your local landscape board would be a great place to start.

I also encourage the community to remember simple advice if they are enjoying our beaches, local parks or national parks and encounter sick or dead birds or mammals: avoid contact with sick or dead animals if they encounter them; record the time, date, location and any other relevant details such as the species and number involved; and, importantly, report those observations to the Emergency Animal Disease hotline on 1800 675 888. Reporting this information is vital to enable investigation of any suspicious circumstances so we can take prompt action to protect our environment, local communities and industries.

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