Interview with Sarah Ferguson, ABC 7.30

Murray Watt, welcome. MURRAY WATT, MINISTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT AND WATER: Hi, Sarah. Good to be with you.

SARAH FERGUSON: Do you accept Sarah Hanson-Young's statement that reform of gambling ads is a matter of moral courage? MURRAY WATT: I think that this is an issue that for many people has a strand of morality to it. And that's one of the reasons why the Government is taking strong action when it comes to gambling advertising.

I recognise that there are many people in the community who have had a lot to say about the laws that we've put forward, but it does need to be recognised that even the package that we intend to put to the Parliament before any amendments includes a range of things that will restrict the advertising we see of gambling on TVs, it will remove gambling advertising from players' jerseys, from signage, it will strengthen the Bet-Stop regime that allows people to get out of gambling altogether.

So it needs to be recognised that while the package that we have put forward may not meet every request from every group, it still represents the strongest package of anti-gambling advertising that we've seen before in this country. SARAH FERGUSON: And yet here we are having this vigorous discussion after a powerful Senate committee last week. Has Angus Taylor today convinced the Prime Minister that inducements, that is, encouragement designed to keep gamblers losing money, that they should be further reduced?

MURRAY WATT: Well, you'd certainly be aware, Sarah, that the Prime Minister had a very constructive meeting with the Opposition Leader today, about this matter but also other legislation, including the NDIS legislation, the News Bargaining Code as well. And the Prime Minister has made clear that there are amendments that we are prepared to make, including regarding inducements.

It's worth remembering, Sarah, that at our recent ALP National Conference, we amended our platform to commit Labor to strengthening the laws when it comes to inducements. So this is not something that's only come about because of a Senate inquiry or because of a representation made by Angus Taylor. This is something that the Labor Party itself decided to commit to recently, and we've now indicated we are prepared to make those amendments.

SARAH FERGUSON: And what will those amendments be? How far are you prepared to go? MURRAY WATT: Well, that's probably a level of detail that I'm not personally involved in, Sarah.

Obviously we need to work through exactly the definition of inducements and what level of control we want to exert on that. Again, it's worth remembering that even the current laws that we have in place before any amendments do include some prohibitions on inducements, particularly as it relates to direct marketing to consumers. But we have said that we are prepared to make amendments in order to get this package through.

SARAH FERGUSON: N ow, the Prime Minister keeps talking about protecting people's right to have a punt, as if this had anything to do with a flutter at the races. Are you worried about One Nation accusing the Government of running a nanny state? MURRAY WATT: No, it's not about that from our point of view, Sarah.

I mean, what we're trying to do here is to come up with a balanced package. And you'll remember that when I spoke to you at the time around the EPBC reforms late last year, that was what we were striving for there. When it came to the environmental reforms, it was about the balance between the environment and business.

Here, we are trying to strike a balance between taking action against the very real problem of gambling addiction and overuse of gambling advertising. On the other hand, people do have a right to have a punt, whether it be on the races or football. And also there are important issues relating to the financial viability of broadcasters, of sporting codes.

You know, even the package that we have before us, before any amendments are made, it will involve financial losses to sporting codes, to broadcasters. I'm not saying that shouldn't happen, of course, the gambling harm issue is a really important one for us to tackle, but there are other factors that need to be taken into account here as well. SARAH FERGUSON: Moving on to bird flu, we've seen two bird flu cases over the weekend in New South Wales quite far apart; one on the south coast, one in the west of New South Wales.

How vulnerable are Australian bird populations now? MURRAY WATT: Look, there's no doubt, Sarah, that we're facing a very serious event when it comes to the impact on birds and potentially mammals as well. You will have seen that last week, Julie Collins, the lead minister on this, and I did some media just trying to highlight to Australians that we are facing a very serious risk here.

We have, fortunately, come to this later than the rest of the world. We have been the last continent in the world to have bird flu come to our shores, and that has given Australia more time to be prepared. So we are very well prepared as a nation.

Our systems are in place, whether it be with states, territories, industry groups as well. But, you know, this is going to be a very serious problem and we're really only at the beginning of it. SARAH FERGUSON: When Australia became aware of the problem, at that point, New Zealand decided to vaccinate some of its most endangered wildlife, should we be doing the same thing?

MURRAY WATT: That is something we are giving consideration to, Sarah. And in fact, over the last couple of years, we have undertaken some trials of vaccinations when it comes to endangered species in a captive setting. As you may have seen me say last week, it's simply not feasible to vaccinate birds in the wild because vaccination requires two doses.

And, you know, it's hard enough to catch wild birds once, let alone twice. There's also no vaccine anywhere in the world when it comes to mammals, so in terms of seals, sea lions, those kinds of creatures. But we have been trialling vaccinations of birds in captive settings.

We are giving consideration to whether that should be expanded. And as with all of these issues, we'll be relying on the expert advice we receive from those who know even more about this than ministers of a government. SARAH FERGUSON: But just to be clear, is New Zealand a bit further ahead than Australia?

MURRAY WATT: It does seem that New Zealand has decided to undertake more vaccinations than what we have here in Australia. Obviously, every country has got to undertake vaccinations and other measures in accordance with its own needs and its own nature requirements. There are obviously animals, whether it be birds or mammals in Australia, that don't exist in New Zealand, and we need to make careful decisions about what works for Australia.

You know, to give you an example, there are birds in Australia where we are down to fewer than 200 of those birds in existence. You know, we obviously need to be making careful judgments about vaccinating populations that are already very low in case something goes wrong with those vaccinations. So New Zealand will have made its own decisions based on its own requirements and we're going to be making them on ours as well.

SARAH FERGUSON: And just on the issue of poultry farms, obviously we have very high biosecurity standards in Australia, but how vulnerable are free-range poultry farms? MURRAY WATT: Well, fortunately, we haven't had any cases of this strain of bird flu getting into our poultry system at this stage. We'll continue to work with industry to do everything we can to avoid that occurring.

And you may have seen that there are some states that have made what are known as housing orders, which ensure that chickens that are free range can be housed in barns or other structures without losing that free range accreditation that they might rely on for marketing purposes. That's for a limited period of time, it can't be forever. And the ACCC is playing a role in making sure that people don't misrepresent the situation.

But that is one measure that has been taken, again, to protect the poultry industry. SARAH FERGUSON: There have been very few, but a few cases of humans contracting this disease. Could that happen here?

MURRAY WATT: Look, there is a very low risk of humans contracting this strain. The cases that have happened internationally have primarily come out of the dairy industry. Again, we haven't got any cases affecting the dairy industry in Australia, so I wouldn't want to cause alarm in the community about talking about that as a serious risk.

Of course it is possible, we have seen that occur overseas, but an extremely low risk. SARAH FERGUSON: Murray Watt, thank you very much indeed for joining us. MURRAY WATT: Thanks Sarah.

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