Wednesday, 26 August 2026

 Aiv PUGLIELLI (North-Eastern Metropolitan) (12:21): (1441) My question is to the Minister for Environment, and it relates to the spread of H5 bird flu across our state. We have seen reports of devastation of seal populations right across the Southern Ocean, with recent reports of over 13,000 elephant seal pups found dead on Heard Island. My question specifically will home in on black swans. Unlike many birds, I am informed black swans lack a key immune protein involved in recognising viral infections, a difference that may leave them vulnerable to a killer inflammatory response, with experts highlighting the potential to lose entire populations of black swans as a result of H5 bird flu. Can I ask: what is the status of the state’s vaccination program, and specifically, how will it protect black swans?

Harriet Shing interjected.

 Jaclyn SYMES (Northern Victoria – Minister for Energy and Resources, Minister for Environment, Minister for Climate Action, Minister for the State Electricity Commission) (12:22): You have got a supportive member next to me who welcomes your question. At the moment, our wildlife vaccination program is confined to penguins. I went down to Phillip Island on Sunday night to personally thank the team that were involved in this world-first, largest wildlife vaccination program. The operation is really impressive; there are over a thousand penguins that have now received the first dose of the vaccine. There is work with zoos and other experts in relation to where potentially other species could be vaccinated.

I also went for a walk around Albert Park last week to personally have a look at the black swan population there. I am sure you would be familiar with the advocacy in relation to asking government to give consideration to the feasibility and workability of being able to vaccinate black swans. There are a number of reasons that penguins are such a viable species to vaccinate: they return, not nightly but regularly, to their burrows; they literally follow the same path, which is why they are easier to corral and capture and vaccinate; and there were previous trials of penguins to inform and give the green light ahead for why this should be something that we should embark on.

There are a range of other vaccination programs happening around the world. As I said, ours is the largest in penguins. There are continual conversations amongst chief vets and zoos and experts to see where things can go. There are some trials in relation to sea mammals in the US, for example. You touched on some of the devastating news of different mortality rates around other parts too close to us, to be sure, particularly in relation to juvenile sea lions. That is something that we are particularly concerned about; Phillip Island has got a colony down there, for example.

I do not have an update for you today on black swans, but I hope that you can deduce from my answer to you that it is something that I am very closely looking into, and these are questions that I am asking the experts. There is some possibility in terms of the activities of black swans of making them potentially eligible, but when we are dealing with wild species it is incredibly challenging, and it is not something that you can just go in on with gusto.

 Aiv PUGLIELLI (North-Eastern Metropolitan) (12:25): Thank you, Minister, for that update. Speaking more broadly around transmission amongst bird populations in the state, does the government foresee that the dispersion of native bird populations due to duck shooting will further exacerbate the spread of H5 bird flu?

 Jaclyn SYMES (Northern Victoria – Minister for Energy and Resources, Minister for Environment, Minister for Climate Action, Minister for the State Electricity Commission) (12:26): In general, Mr Puglielli, we are looking at a range of measures in relation to the impact and measures that we can take to not only protect birds but also respond. We know it is here, we know it is going to spread. Some of those actions include making sure that our invasive species actions are beefed up and habitats are protected. There are a range of issues that we are looking at in response to where the disease may move to. I do not have anything in relation specifically to ducks, but it is something that is part of the expert working group that continues to look at a range of these issues.