Wednesday, 18 February 2026

 Katherine COPSEY (Southern Metropolitan) (12:56): My constituency question is to the Minister for Environment. Starting next week, local residents, sporting clubs and recreational users will be locked out of Albert Park for weeks for yet another expensive government gift of special treatment to the Australian Grand Prix Corporation. During the extended lockout of Albert Park, wildlife lovers fear that there is no help available for sick birds suffering from avian botulism and that collection will be slower for dead birds. I have been alerted to this fear by Lake Alive, an active local group for recreational park users and local wildlife, and I thank them for their continued advocacy on this matter. Minister, given that the number of bird deaths has increased significantly after last year’s one-week lockout, what additional and special measures will you be taking during this year’s three-week lockout to ensure that the avian botulism type C outbreak is contained, or do you expect the lockout to exacerbate the outbreak?