Today during Question Time, Abigail grilled the Minister for Agriculture on what they are doing to protect animals exploited by the industrial animal agriculture industry as well as our native wildlife from the deadly H5 bird flu that has begun to sweep the nation.

Abigail said:

My question without notice is directed to the Minister for Agriculture. The deadly H5 bird flu has already begun spreading nationwide, which will be disastrous for the hundreds of millions of animals exploited by the industrial animal agriculture industry as well as native wildlife, including threatened and endangered native birds. Noting that this strain of bird flu has not yet been detected in New South Wales and amidst reports this week of so-called free-range farmers planning to lock chickens inside as a kneejerk reaction, what is the Minister doing to prevent mass deaths, cruelty and neglect of farmed animals as well as wildlife in our State?

The Hon. TARA MORIARTY (Minister for Agriculture): I thank the member for the question. It is devastating and disappointing that the first case of H5 bird flu has been detected in Australia. We have been the only continent on earth to have not experienced this strain of bird flu to date. Unfortunately, over the past couple of days, two birds in a very remote area in Western Australia have tested positive for the H5N1 strain of bird flu. However, New South Wales has been preparing for this for many years. People would recall that a couple of years ago a different strain of bird flu hit the poultry industry in New South Wales. We have been working closely with industry to ensure that we are ready and prepared if the virus makes it across Australia from other parts of the world, or from Western Australia.

Today we set up the emergency response centre in Orange, a facility at the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development that exists to deal with biosecurity issues like this. It will be the headquarters from where the Government will work across agencies to deal with the threat. Again, we have been working closely with industry to ensure they are ready to meet the challenges if the virus does make its way into New South Wales. I certainly hope it does not, but we are prepared. We have had plans in place for some time. We have been scenario planning with industry, who are as prepared as they can be to tackle this strain of bird flu in particular, which is the worst kind. In relation to the specifics of the question about birds that are otherwise free range being moved inside, I do not accept the premise of the question. There are provisions in place to protect birds that are otherwise free range if they need to be kept inside for their protection. We will work with industry on that if needed.

In response to the Minister, Abigail said:

I thank the Minister for her response. As she notes, the H5N1 strain of the virus has already spread through bird populations on every other continent, killing hundreds of millions of animals and wreaking havoc on the agricultural sector, including, importantly, dairy cows. When we had a bird flu outbreak a couple of years back, we saw mass culling, which was not done in a humane way. Instead, there was a cruel CO2 gassing of hundreds of thousands of birds. I ask the Minister whether lessons have been learnt from those mistakes. I understand that yesterday a meeting of Ministers around Australia was held in relation to this issue, and it would be useful if she could update the House on what the Federal Government will be offering to protect New South Wales from the impacts of the deadly flu.

Read the full transcript in Hansard here.

23 June 2026