Friday, 14 August 2026

 Michael GALEA (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (18:33): (2710) My adjournment is for the Minister for Environment. We are in a very distressing situation right now where we are seeing the prevalence of H5 bird flu permeating across the shores of our country. However, out of this very concerning news I was pleased to see an exciting announcement in relation to Victoria’s colony of little penguins. I have recently come to learn that the terminology is ‘little penguins’ and no longer ‘fairy penguins’, which is a bit of a shame – more on that later, perhaps. But little penguins is the correct terminology, and it is a very apt one too. Of the world’s 18 species of penguins, Victoria’s little penguins are the smallest, weighing in at just under 1 kilogram. Although despite their small stature they certainly make up for it by being able to eat up to 25 per cent of their body fat in one day, which is very impressive.

Apart from being adorable little birds, these penguins contribute a lot to Victoria’s economy of course as well, with more than 700,000 people visiting the penguin parade on Phillip Island last year alone. When you consider the more than $500 million of direct and indirect spend within the Victorian economy in relation to penguin sightings, both of course at Phillip Island and closer to here in Parliament at St Kilda as well, you can really appreciate the importance of vaccinating, from a cold-hearted economic perspective as well as, most importantly, a social conscience perspective. That is why it is so exciting to see what is actually in fact the world’s the world’s largest ever recorded wildlife vaccination program, with between 5000 and 6000 vaccinations scheduled to take place across St Kilda and Phillip Island for these precious little birds.

Indeed there is more good news too, because it appears that some of their attributes make vaccination quite easy. In particular, I am told they have fatty little pecs which provide ideal injecting sites. Also, there has been a trial of 12 initial penguins, and we have seen that the antibody results have been very encouraging, that the penguins show no distress and in fact – I am very delighted to report this, as penguins are known to be very romantic – that it does not appear to have led to any breakdown in any of their relationships either. Although I do note, in returning to the start of my adjournment, that I understand that all of those 12 penguins were in heterosexual relationships. For Tux and Flipper and any other fairy little penguins out there, I look forward to hopefully seeing the same results for them too. On that note, I do ask that the minister confirms that what I have said is true, and I ask that she update the house on that.