Key events
Lisa Cox
Environment ministers to meet and discuss preparedness for H5N1 strain
Work by Wildlife Health Australia more than a year ago warned the consequences of the H5N1 strain of bird flu in native birds could be catastrophic. Environment organisations have been calling for additional funding for preparedness for the disease in wildlife for many months.
The announcement (see previous post) comes ahead of a meeting later this week of federal, state and territory environment and agriculture ministers to discuss preparedness for the deadly strain.
The Invasive Species Council’s advocacy director Jack Gough welcomed the extra funding:
This is incredible news. The Albanese government is finally investing a serious amount into preparation for what could be the worst environmental disaster in Australia’s history.
This level of funding will allow departments to get on with the job of properly preparing to save wildlife and stop extinctions if the deadly bird flu hits our shores.
We will not be able to stop this disease from arriving but we know that vaccination, carcass removal and stopping disturbance can reduce death rates and save species like Tassie devils, sea lions and black swans.
Labor commits $95m to prepare for deadly bird flu
Lisa Cox
The Albanese government has announced an extra $95m to prepare for the potential arrival of a deadly strain of bird flu that has been catastrophic for wildlife globally.
Australia is the only continent that remains free of the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain of avian influenza but the chance it will be detected increases during spring with the arrival of migratory shorebirds.
The rapid global spread of the strain has caused mass deaths of wild birds and some mammal species and had significant impacts for industries such as poultry.
The government is committing an extra $37m for initiatives to protect agriculture, including $15m to increase biosecurity response capability and surveillance and $10m for nationally coordinated communications to ensure communities are informed and protected.
The new investment also includes a major increase in funding of $35.9m for environmental measures to “accelerate protective action for threatened species and priority biodiversity”. A further $22.1m is for strengthening public health preparedness.
The environment minister Tanya Plibersek said:
I am particularly concerned about the potential impact on species already at risk of extinction and not well placed to cope with significant mortalities. This includes marine mammals such as the endangered Australian sea lion, and sea birds like the Christmas Island frigatebird which has only one breeding site.
Welcome
Emily Wind
Good morning and welcome back to a new week on the Australia news live blog. I’m Emily Wind and I’ll be taking you through our live coverage for most of today.
The Albanese government has announced an extra $95m to prepare for the potential arrival of a deadly strain of bird flu that has been catastrophic for wildlife globally.
Australia is the only continent that remains free of the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain of avian influenza, but the chance it will be detected increases during spring with the arrival of migratory shorebirds. We’ll have more on this from Lisa Cox in a moment.
The Australian Republican Movement is launching a tongue-in-cheek media campaign ahead of King Charles’s visit to Australia – from 18 to 23 October – branding it the “farewell tour” of the British monarchy. The movement is preparing to use Charles’s visit to draw attention to the republican push with a campaign titled “monarchy: the Farewell Oz tour”, branded like the final tour of a rock band with T-shirts and posters printed. Josh Butler will have more on this shortly.
As always, you can reach out with any tips, questions or feedback via X, @emilywindwrites, or you can send me an email: emily.wind@theguardian.com.
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