CONSTITUENCY STATEMENTS

Mr WATTS (Gellibrand) (10:28): My community in Melbourne's west is a bayside community. Our way of life is connected to the water and the wetlands that connect to it. It's a paradise for twitchers, home to Ramsar Wetlands, the Hobsons Bay Wetlands Centre and the Western Treatment Plant.

We welcome sharp-tailed sandpipers and red-necked stints all the way from Siberia to Melbourne's west every year, so the arrival of H5 bird flu in Australia has been disturbing for many people of my community. Members of our community have in recent days seen locals reporting dead birdlife in our community on our local online Facebook groups. It's a very upsetting and confronting thing for people to see.

Unfortunately, testing has confirmed that H5 bird flu in wild seabirds in Australia and in Victoria, and detections have been confirmed across Australia. Sadly, Victoria has confirmed the first death of a little penguin with H5 bird flu on Phillip Island. I know much of our community values connections with birdlife in the wetlands, and the wetlands and ocean life are a core part of our identity.

There are many passionate people across our community who contribute to maintaining our environment and enjoying seeing the birdlife. If you see sick or dead birdlife, it is important that you do not touch sick or dead birds or animals. Avoid all contact and keep your distance.

Record the date, time and location; take photos if it's safe to do so; and report it to the Emergency Animal Disease Hotline on 1800675888. I want to emphasise it's important to keep your pets away from sick or dead wildlife. Particularly, I'm calling out to the local dog walkers on our beaches and in our wetlands: keep your pets away from sick or dead birds.

I want to thank everyone in my community who's already been taking these steps. I've spoken about this issue directly with the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. Sadly, Australians should be prepared to see more spread and larger numbers of wildlife sick or dead.

H5 bird flu is spreading through the wildlife in the natural environment. Sadly, it's not possible to avoid significant losses, which we're starting to see now. This is why our government has been taking action to strengthen our nation's preparedness for bird flu, investing more than $47 million to protect our most at-risk native species, including supporting a major push to vaccinate the more than 5,000 little penguins in Victoria, with wildlife officers carrying out vaccinations at Phillip Island and in St Kilda.

Members of the community can stay up to date with the bird flu outbreak on the new national bird flu reporting dashboard at birdflu.gov.au. The dashboard provides the latest national information on H5 bird flu events, including where the disease is occurring, affected species and changes over time. If any members of my community want more information about how our government is responding to this event and what you can do to be part of this national effort, please contact my office.

We'll be very happy to support. The DEPUTY SPEAKER ( Ms Sharkie ): In accordance with standing order 193, the time for members' constituency statements has concluded.