Thursday, 13 August 2026

 Georgie PURCELL (Northern Victoria) (22:29): (2696) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Environment, and the action that I seek is for the minister to outline Victoria’s long-term plan to support wildlife as they face H5N1 bird flu in Victoria.

I welcome the recent half-a-million-dollar funding package for the wildlife sector, including $250,000 for frontline rescuers and shelters. But by comparison, Western Australia has announced a $2 million fast-tracked bird flu wildlife resilience grants package despite no evidence of local transmission in that state. We are hopeful that this is the first of many support packages for our wildlife sector, who are bracing for this disaster in Victoria. Then of course a few days ago the federal government announced a vaccine rollout, which as the minister noted will be used, firstly, to protect penguins at Phillip Island and at St Kilda. These are good strides, but there is a whole lot more to do, including fully funding Zoos Victoria’s marine response unit ahead of looming job cuts that could see the response to seabirds and sea mammals impacted.

But as we deal with this crisis, it should be all native birds that are protected, not just a select few. That is why the government’s passing of the Outdoor Recreation Victoria Bill 2026 this morning – which, picking up Dr Heath’s point, I note that the Federation of Victorian Traditional Owner Corporations has released a statement on today – and the ongoing refusal to cancel next year’s duck-shooting season, locking this into the future, are completely unacceptable. This is despite advice that people should not touch or come into close contact with wild birds unless trained to do so, and there is simply no way to do duck shooting without touching the birds.

Conservative government figures estimate around half a million ducks are killed each recreational season in Victoria, and that does not include those that die later on from wounding. Native waterbird populations in eastern Australia already face long-term declines due to habitat loss, the climate crisis and drought. We know that recreational shooting adds acute physical and psychological stress on top of that. This extends beyond the native birds on the so-called game list. Disturbances from shooting also force other protected and threatened species to flee gunfire, which depletes their energy reserves required to remain healthy and fight disease. The chronic stress and displacement from months of a shooting season weakens all of our native birds’ immune response, with those who do survive becoming far more vulnerable to H5N1.

The government’s only focus right now should be on strengthening the resilience of our native bird populations at a time when they need it more than ever before. The interests of recreational shooters and the gun lobby, unlike the decision today, should not even be a consideration right now. Australia has so far recorded just over 200 cases of the disease, and that number will grow rapidly. The consequences will see countless deaths and suffering of our native wildlife. I ask the minister to provide her long-term plan to protect wildlife from the threat of bird flu, including cancelling the duck-shooting season.