Press conference, Hobart

JULIE COLLINS, MINISTER FOR AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FORESTRY: It's great to be here on Hobart Macquarie Wharf with the Minister for the Environment, Murray Watt, and my colleague, Senator Richard Dowling, and of course, our great Antarctic People Division led by Emma. So thank you for having us on board the Nuyina today. It's exciting to be here at the start of the Antarctic Science Voyages and to get a tour of the Nuyina and importantly, to talk to the experts about being able to go to Heard and McDonald Islands this time and to spend some time there doing the science. Can I say as the Minister of Agriculture, this is really exciting to hear. We have been working across government, including with Minister Watt's department, in relation to the H5 bird flu, and they will be doing some analysis to see if the H5 bird flu has indeed reached Heard and McDonald Islands. And this will be important science for Australia, and I look forward to hearing about their voyage and hearing the impact of H5 down there in the Antarctic so that we can learn more. We have of course, as the government, invested around $100 million in preparedness for the H5 bird flu, and as I said, we're working across government with other governments and indeed with industry and with non-for-profit organisations to make sure that when bird flu does arrive in Australia that we're as ready as we can be.

I'll now hand over to Minister Watt to talk more about these voyages.

MURRAY WATT, MINISTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT AND WATER: Well, thanks very much, Julie, and thanks for hosting Richard, myself, and all of the team here in beautiful Hobart. This is a really exciting day for all Australians to see the imminent departure of the RSV Nuyina vessel for a very important scientific research expedition that will be starting very soon. This is the first major scientific expedition to Heard and McDonald Islands that we've seen for about 20 years, and that's been made possible as a result of about $17 million in extra funding made available by the Albanese Government to ensure that we are undertaking these kinds of scientific expeditions, to learn as much as we possibly can about the Australian environment, including in remote parts of it such as Heard and McDonald Island. For those who aren't aware, Heard and McDonald Island are Antarctic islands. They're about 4000 kilometres south west of WA. So that gives you some picture of how far this vessel has to travel in the next few weeks. Those islands are home to spectacular natural beauty, some very important threatened species, particularly seabirds and seals. And it's also home to Australia's only active volcano, known as Big Ben. So there's a lot for these scientists to look at when they're down there, and I know we're all looking forward to hearing the results of this expedition.

As Minister Collins has made clear, one of the important purposes of this mission is to understand whether bird flu has reached Heard and McDonald Islands. Australia is very lucky to be the only continent in the world which has not yet seen the H5 strain of that virus reach its shores. There are other Antarctic islands where we have seen bird flu, and it's important for us to understand whether that may have occurred at Heard and McDonald Island as well. But beyond that, there's other important science to be done by these research expeditions, such as measuring the populations of those threatened species, to also understand what impact climate change is having on glaciers and the marine and land environment in these very remote places. So this is a really important scientific voyage. We're very proud to support it as a government, and I'm really looking forward to hearing a little bit more from some of the scientific experts who know even more than me about this from you shortly.

Emma's next. Over to Emma Campbell from the Australian Antarctic Division.

EMMA CAMPBELL, AAD HEAD OF DIVISION: Great. Thanks, Minister. It's so exciting to be going to Heard and McDonald Island. It's one of Australia's Antarctic external territories, and it's a really special place. It's World Heritage-listed, and last year, the government increased marine protected areas by about - quadrupled the size of the marine-protected areas. This voyage is really important. We'll be using Nuyina as an integrated floating station, a really complex science vessel. We'll be conducting fisheries research to support fisheries management. We'll be looking at the ecology, the biodiversity, to support marine protected area management, looking at birds for the signs of bird flu, and of course, looking at the glaciers to look at the impact of climate change as well. It's really exciting, and I know the scientists on board will be thrilled.

One of the other things Nuyina will be doing, it'll be popping by at Davis Station on the way home. Nuyina is carrying 800,000 litres of water to support the station and 500 tonnes of food for the year for Davis Station. We'll bring our expeditioners home and redeploy the incoming crew at Davis Station, so that's really exciting. I think people will talk about the detail of the voyage, but it's just so wonderful that we can do all this great stuff on Nuyina. Thank you.

BEN PATRICK, AAD FIELD LEADER: Good morning. So I'm Ben Patrick, the field leader for Heard Island. When we get there we're going to put people ashore via helicopters and small boats, IRBs. And we're also going to make sure they've got the gear they need to be safe ashore, including some water tank huts which we'll put in to provide refuge for our expeditioners on the island. Safety of our expeditioners is always our number one priority. We've got a range of different scientific focus areas this time, the seabirds, seals, mapping, and glaciology. And interestingly, we're putting ashore eight satellite reflectors. These top hat-looking devices, two metres, can be seen from various types of satellite imagery, and we'll place them around the island so that we can then remotely monitor changes in the shape of the island going forward.

JOURNALIST: Ben, what's happening at Atlas Cove?

BEN PATRICK: And when we get ashore at places like Atlas Cove, we'll be doing a number of scientific activities like looking at the old station there and seeing what remediation we can do, having the ecology teams out and looking at the health of the wildlife populations there, and also creating and setting up mapping base stations to inform all the other projects that we're going to do around the island.

DR JULIE MCINNES, AAD WILDLIFE ECOLOGIST: Thanks. Dr Julie McInnes, I'm a wildlife ecologist with the Australian Antarctic Division. And I have the privilege of going both on V1 and on the second voyage on V2, and one of the main key objectives of this management voyage is to look at the size and distribution of some of these seabird and seal populations on the island. And this is really important for us to be able to get data that can feed into our threatened species recovery plans and also understand what's happening on these islands. As we've heard, there's been significant changes globally to glaciers, to these island habitats. And Heard Island and McDonald Islands are a really important habitat for these species, with millions of seabirds and seals coming ashore each year to breed on this island.

So throughout the two voyages, we're going to use a range of survey techniques to understand the size and distribution of these populations. So that will include using drones, using ground surveys, and even putting out some acoustic loggers to try and understand what species are present on the island. So we've got 19 seabird species and three seal species that are known to breed on Heard Island and McDonald Islands, and two of those are actually even endemic, so only found on Heard Island, which is pretty exciting and I'm getting pretty excited about seeing those myself. We're also going to collect some samples to understand the diet of these species, and that's really important with this newly expanded marine park as well, marine reserve, is to understand how these animals are using that area and also what they're consuming. And we're also going to be doing some work around genetics to understand the genetic structure of these populations.

All of this information feeds into our national and international conservation objectives to protect these species and understand the threats that they face. As you've heard, one of the threats that these species face is H5 bird flu. So we don't yet know whether there's been an incursion at Heard Island, but we're going in prepared for the fact that it might be there. As you've heard, it has been found at Kerguelen, which is around 500 kilometres from Heard Island, and that's not very far as the albatross flies. So what we're trying to do is actually go and have a look for signs and symptoms of H5 Bird Flu on the island and if there's any signs of unusual mortality. Now, if there is, the plan is to collect samples on the island to be able to bring back safely to Australia for subsequent processing. So we can't actually do testing on the island itself, but we can measure the impact through the number of unusual mortalities and signs and symptoms of disease. Like I said, they'll be securely packaged, brought back here, and sent to the Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness, where these will be tested for avian influenza or for H5 Bird Flu. So we're really hoping it's not on the island, but we will be prepared and we've got very good biosecurity practises in place to protect not only us but the wildlife on the island. I might leave it at that. Thank you.

DR JUSTINE SHAW, PROJECT LEAD, SECURING AUSTRALIA’S ENVIRONMENTAL FUTURE: I'm Associate Professor Justine Shaw and I'm from the Securing Antarctica's Environmental Futures program. When you arrive at Heard Island, it is one of the most wild environments that people will ever experience. And you're hit with this island rising out of the wild, pounding Southern Ocean and it's covered in ice. It's a glaciated volcano. For our scientists, it's an incredible opportunity to partner with the Australian Antarctic Program this summer and have the opportunity to go down to Heard Island. Heard Island is an amazing natural laboratory. We get to study species on the island without all the other pressures and threats that we see elsewhere in the world. Climate change is happening on Heard Island. Our program released a study several months ago that quantified the amount the glaciers have melted over the last 50 years. It’s some of the most warming or rapidly retreating glaciers we've seen in the world. And since I was there 22 years ago, I can see looking at a satellite image how much those glaciers have melted. I can see there's lagoons now where I once worked and did science 22 years ago.

So I say it's a natural laboratory because it's the most largest pristine island in the Southern Ocean. It's got no feral animals and it's the only one of that size with no feral animals. You can see the rat guards on the ship to stop rats getting aboard the ship. It's never had feral animals established on the island. What that means for us as scientists is we have this incredible opportunity to look at what's happening on land. There's no rabbits, there's no bushfire, there's no agriculture, there's no forestry. It's a really simple system, and our team will be looking at plants and insects, invertebrates and looking at how they're responding to that changing climate without all those other complicating factors that we have here in Australia or elsewhere in the environment. It's a really incredible opportunity for scientists to understand and look at change. Our team will be going back to sites that my colleagues and I established 22 years ago and look at how things have changed. We've also got some other historic sites from 40 years ago, and we're able to see how things have changed over time when really the only thing that's been happening is the environments getting warmer. So while we'll be repeating old science or historic sites, we'll be using really cutting-edge, novel technologies. Our team will be using new genetic tools to understand how these cold tolerant species, these little beetles and all sorts of insects and plants that really don't occur anywhere else in the world, how they're changing as the climate's changing, when they've been isolated for tens of thousands of years in this cold sub-Antarctic island.

We'll have drones in the sky, and they'll be looking at things like there's one weed on the island. We want to understand how that weed changed and expanded. And we'll use those drone imageries to also understand some of the plants that really only occur on one other island, one or two other islands, and understand and quantify them. They're incredibly rare plants, and we want to see how much of the island they cover. And we'll look at those satellite images – so the satellite images that we get now are incredibly high resolution, and they enable us to get a whole picture of the island. We didn't have very good satellite images 22 years ago, so it's very exciting to use these new tools. We'll have remotely operated vehicles going under the water looking at the marine environment, looking for non-native species that might have been brought in past shipping. We'll have three people looking at marine species using marine science, looking at the genetics of those species understand past climates, where were the ice sheets.

As a personally, I'm so excited for the scientists who are going down. To get to go to Heard Island as a scientist is an incredible opportunity, and it's an amazing opportunity put together by the Australian Antarctic Program. Our team are going to have their minds blown by the beauty and the pristine state of this World Heritage Island. So the science that we do informs the ongoing conservation and management of the island, but also we can take that science and learn more about climate change and species more broadly in the world.

MURRAY WATT: Thanks Julie. Any questions on this before other issues?

JOURNALIST: I have a couple of questions on the HIMI voyage.

MURRAY WATT: Yeah, I'm happy for the experts to answer those.

JOURNALIST: What kind of training then has been done ahead of heading down there? I know that there's been- maybe you can explain, but there's been- you had to kind of practice moving some water tanks that are going to be used as some sort of shelters.

BEN PATRICK: So our expeditioners go through a range of training, from survival training, where they learn about the tents and the stoves and cooking meals in this very volatile environment, to looking at how we will do things like river crossings in case we've got to cross a high energetic body of water, to sling loading equipment into the island. We will need to place field caches and the tank huts ashore, and to do that, we use our very capable helicopters and our trained teams to make sure that we can safely put all this equipment ashore.

JOURNALIST: How important is this safety, especially for those that are doing their first voyage?

BEN PATRICK: The safety of our expeditions is always our number one priority. We've got a highly skilled group of field training officers who put all our expeditioners through a range of activities and tasks. We make sure they've got excellent equipment and excellent training so that we can get them to the places they want to be to deliver the science.

JOURNALIST: And how extreme are the conditions at a place like Heard Island, Ben?

BEN PATRICK: We're expecting it to be wet, wild and windy. Heard Island is located in the furious ‘50s, and the winds will be high. We expect a lot of rain, particularly on the west coast of the island. But maybe down the east end of the island there will be some clearer days, because that's in the weather shadow of the island.

JOURNALIST: What’s the travel time like? How long does it take to get them to Heard Island?

BEN PATRICK: So the voyage will be at sea for- how do we answer that? 10 days? It will take about 10 days on the ship to get from Casey to Heard Island to commence the campaign.

JOURNALIST: And if you are met with some of these extra conditions, I guess, how much extra time would that add on the voyage?

EMMA CAMPBELL: Yeah, so we know that the conditions will be challenging. We know that, like anything in Antarctica, things will be disrupted, and there's of contingency plans for that. The voyage is set time, and so the opportunity is to maximise the amount of science during the time we're down south.

JOURNALIST: We've heard some of the features on the ship in terms of keeping the rats out, but what features of the ship are designed to protect from the elements? Are you best placed to talk about that?

EMMA CAMPBELL: Yeah, the Nuyina is an amazing icebreaker. It's a stable ship. It's proven itself really good at going through the ice. It's really cosy inside. The cabins are heated. The kitchen's heated. Out on deck it's pretty cold. There's pictures at Denman Marine of people out doing work in the snow in the night, but people have proper clothes and are prepared for that. So battling the elements is one of the things that scientists love about Antarctica, but we also need to keep them safe while they're doing it.

JOURNALIST: Is there a medical crew coming? Is there a doctor coming?

EMMA CAMPBELL: Yeah, we've just been on Nuyina looking at the medical facilities on the ship. They are state-of-the-art. Our chief medical officer says they're the best medical facilities on a ship on the ocean today. We'll have a couple of doctors going down south, and they'll be working to keep our people safe for any eventualities.

JOURNALIST: Can you tell us about those eventualities? Because obviously one of the risks on this voyage is coming into contact with avian influenza. We've seen overseas humans have contracted it in parts. What kind of measures will be put in place to protect the workforce and prevent people from actually getting any disease from it?

EMMA CAMPBELL: Yeah, we're really conscious about avian influenza and the risk to people, and also to the wildlife of course. Our expeditioners are trained in how to avoid avian influenza, keeping distance from birds, wearing PPE, and we also have a range of medical facilities should the worst happen. But we're really focused on avoiding any exposure for humans, and people are well trained on that both on HIMI but also throughout our Antarctic stations.

JOURNALIST: Is there a quarantine period once you come back from the voyage?

EMMA CAMPBELL: Again, we take biosecurity really seriously. We’ll look, we're assuming that there will be avian influenza and we'll have very strong security. Sorry, I'll say that again, we'll have really strong controls in place, packaging up samples, for example, in biosecure elements so that they don't have contagion if we come back, if we find it and we come back. So those elements are all well planned.

JOURNALIST: Julie, can I ask you a quick question just about the avian influenza and some things? What kind of- you talked briefly about it, but will you have to wear PPE from top to bottom when you go on the island? Are you going to be doing some kind of surveys in advance? And how concerned are you about the prospect of maybe seeing a lot of mortality among the wildlife?

JULIE MCINNES: Yeah, they’re some good questions. So we're pretty well prepared with personal protective equipment, our PPE to go ashore. Because as Emma said, keeping people safe is one of our main priorities. So it is a respiratory virus, so if you think back to COVID times, it's transmitted through particles in the air. And so Heard Island is probably the most well ventilated environment you could hope for. So in that sense, if you think about social distances that we worked with COVID, that's sort of what we're thinking in that sense. If we're moving within close proximity of wildlife, we've got good PPE in place. So masks, safety glasses, we've got an outer shell which is going to protect us, gloves, and that outer shell you've got to think about, it's got to also be waterproof to protect the people from the elements as well. So we can actually disinfect all of that before we- once we've finished at the site, and as we were talking about getting back on board the ship and so forth that any biosecurity risk is being mitigated through that disinfectant, and same with boot wash stations before we get back on board. So that side of it is really well regulated, and a lot of efforts being put into protecting people and prevention of spread of the disease. As far as the impact to wildlife, look, we're all hoping for the best but preparing for the worst. We've seen footage and imagery in other sites of the impact that this can have, and the impact it can have on people too who are working in these spaces. So we're very conscious of that and got a number of things in place not only to help people with what they may see on the island, but also that we can prepare for in advance.

MURRAY WATT: Anything else on HIMI? Okay, other things?

JOURNALIST: Can I start with Murray? Just on some Antarctic-related stuff. So first of all, obviously the Federal Government did provide funding to go down to Denman, to go to HIMI. But what now? Because are there going to be any further research voyages that are funded by the Federal Government? Are you going to boost the funding for the Australian Antarctic Division to do that?

MURRAY WATT: Yeah, so we will obviously always consider what extra funding is required to support the excellent work of the Antarctic Division. I think you can look to the Albanese Government's record on this. Since coming to power a bit over three years ago, we've invested an extra over $1 billion in our Antarctic activities and exercises and research, including, as I mentioned, the extra $17 million that was provided last year to support the voyages that we're now seeing. We are very big supporters of the Antarctic program. I think all Australians are proud of the research that is produced by our Antarctic researchers. We are world-leading when it comes to this, and that's something that the Albanese Government will continue to support going forward.

JOURNALIST: So will there be some funding for dedicated marine science voyages next year?

MURRAY WATT: Well, obviously we've got to go through budget processes to determine those kind of things, but we will continue to support these sorts of voyages.

JOURNALIST: Any further thoughts on providing further funding to the Australian Centre for Excellence in Antarctic Science?

MURRAY WATT: I can assure you that all of the Labor MPs and senators from Tasmania have been very much advocating to me about the need to extend that funding. Again, that is something that we need to go through budget processes to determine, but I'm very supportive of extending the funding for that to occur. We recognise that that funding has been really important in supporting the kind of research that is leading to world leading discoveries. So again, we do need to go through proper budget processes being a responsible government, but we're very clear on the desire of people to see that funding extended.

JOURNALIST: There's been a range of geopolitical changes, dynamics going on in the Southern Ocean and in Antarctica. We've seen a lot of demand for krill. They had to shut down the krill fishing zones recently. There's been concerns raised in a UK parliamentary inquiry about the potential for Russia prospecting in the Southern Ocean. There's the increased presence of China. What's your assessment of the changing geopolitical dynamics down there? Are you concerned, particularly on a security front for Australia?

MURRAY WATT: I think everyone acknowledges that the current geostrategic environment that the world faces is a challenging one. That's whether we're talking about areas that are as remote as Antarctica or anywhere else on the planet. So we're very alive to those geostrategic challenges, and it's actually one of the reasons why Australia needs to engage very deeply on the Antarctic program. It is a contested space, as are so many other parts of the world, and we will always make sure that we are at the forefront in putting forward Australia's national interests when it comes to those geostrategic challenges.

JOURNALIST: The National Defence Strategy 2024 doesn't even mention Antarctica, doesn't mention the Southern Ocean. Is that a gap in Australia in terms of the southern domain?

MURRAY WATT: No, I don't think so. I mean, obviously the people who undertook that review were highly qualified to determine some of the most significant defence and strategic challenges that Australia faces, so it's not for me to second guess their work. But again, I can assure you that we are very focused on the geostrategic challenges arising from Antarctica. It's why we’re very active in international negotiations about all of those kind of things and will remain so.

JOURNALIST: One more question on Antarctica, and I've got one more extra question on top of that. The ASIO Director-General recently made reference to espionage relating to Antarctic science. How concerning is that? And also what do you know about it?

MURRAY WATT: Well, I was just going to say of course you would expect that I'm not going to broadcast too much when it comes to national security in a press conference, I'm afraid. But of course any of these kind of concerns that we see around espionage activities wherever they occur is a concern to our government, and we will always take them seriously led by the security advice of ASIO and other agencies.

JOURNALIST: But are you surprised to see it in relation to Antarctic research? Why do you think there would be espionage in that space?

MURRAY WATT: I think unfortunately we live in an era where no part of the world and no activity is safe from espionage. We see activities undertaken by a range of different countries in all corners of the globe, and Antarctica is no different. I think the reality is that people are always seeking access to information, whether it be generated in Antarctica or elsewhere, but we will always take the steps that are required to protect that information and protect the researchers who are undertaking that work.

JOURNALIST: On the MMG tailings dam proposal here in Tasmania, I think last time you might have said you hadn't had a chance to read over the documentation. Where are you at with that assessment? Will it get approval or non-approval in the imminent future, and if so, when?

MURRAY WATT: So no formal brief has been presented to me at this point regarding that project, and as you probably are aware, the first decision that requires- that needs to be made is whether the proposal for the tailings dam and the exploration activities regarding it constitute a controlled action under the EPBC laws. If it is determined to be a controlled action, then that would obviously trigger other processes. If it's decided not to be a controlled action, then it wouldn't. So that assessment is underway by my department at the moment, and I’m not going to rush it. We're going to make sure that we do it properly. We understand the importance of that project and the real interest in it across the community here, but I can assure people that we'll do that assessment properly and in as timely a fashion as we can.

JOURNALIST: Tassie scientists have made a breakthrough with a vaccine to help protect salmon from P.salmonis. I guess, what's your reaction to that? Do you think there's any applications outside of Tassie and what it means for the industry?

MURRAY WATT: Yeah, well that project, as I understand it, has been led by the Tasmanian Government, so they'd probably be better placed than me to talk about the potential applications elsewhere. But what I'd say generally is that our government are supportive of a sustainable salmon industry. We support the jobs in that industry. We also support the industry becoming more sustainable. I think all Australians, not just Tasmanians, were concerned when we saw the images of that fish kill a few months ago, and whatever efforts can be undertaken to prevent that kind of thing occurring in the future are a good thing. So if it's a step towards the industry becoming more sustainable, then that's a good thing.

JOURNALIST: Do you think we can still expect some rate of mortality, even if salmon is vaccinated?

MURRAY WATT: Look, the reality is that as with any kind of farming activity, there are fatalities in salmon farming, in cattle farming, in sheep farming. That is part of farming, unfortunately. But whatever can be done to reduce the sorts of events that we saw a few months ago, then that’s a positive thing.

JOURNALIST: If there are signs of bird flu on Heard Island, what’s the process for notifying the rest of the world?

MURRAY WATT: So I might call on one of the experts who’s across the detail of that to back in what I say and Minister Collins might like to say as well. But what I can say is that there are very well developed plans within the Federal Government, across a number of different agencies to ensure that we do notify world authorities that that information is shared not just within Government but within the community more generally. On the ship that we’re talking about, the communications protocols that are in place to ensure that the public is notified as well as world authorities about that. But it may be that one of the other scientific experts who’s closer to it might like to answer that.

JOURNALIST: What I’m wondering is do you raise the alarm if you see high mortalities on the island or do you wait until you do a testing?

JOURNALIST: I have a federal question just before that one. I’m not sure who’s best placed. It’s from a colleague, around Tasmania’s mental health system and how the Federal Government can support Tasmania's mental health system as it struggles to cope with the closure of another private hospital?

JULIE COLLINS: Yeah. I think all Tasmanians who are impacted by mental health and their families will be concerned about the Rokeby clinic closing, the mental health facility that so many Tasmanians have utilised. Obviously, as a Federal Government, we don't have a role to play in terms of that particular clinic but what I can say is in terms of private hospitals and private health insurers that we understand that the private hospital system has had some challenges and we are asking and have asked the private health insurers and the private hospitals to collaborate more and to make sure that those private hospitals and institutions are sustainable.

We also of course understand that the state government had some beds in that facility and that the state government has indicated that it will be able to absorb those into the Tasmanian health system. More broadly, of course, we have invested very heavily in the Tasmanian health system as many of you would know. We've put over $750 million into the hospital system this financial year. We continue to have discussions with the Tasmanian Government. Around 70 per cent of the entire Tasmanian state budget comes from the Federal Government. So we'll always stand up for Tasmania and we'll always support Tasmanians. And if of course there are some issues around this particular facility, and there is a way, we're happy to engage with the Health Minister and have discussions with him about that. But I do think that many Tasmanians will be very concerned when they hear the news today.

JOURNALIST: Minister, I've got a couple more. Just on the salmon vaccine, I believe there's a vaccine for rickettsia. What role will the Federal Government play in approving that vaccine if it hasn't yet been approved?

JULIE COLLINS: Well of course anything that is used as part of the veterinary science may need to be approved by the APVMA, the Australian Veterinary Authority, and need to be registered by them for use, particularly as it impacts those particular fish species but also the environment more broadly. So they would need to request an emergency listing to use it if they need to use it quickly or to go through the process for a longer use. That is through the independent APVMA. As Minister for Agriculture, obviously the APVMA does fall under me but it is an independent organisation. It makes its decisions based on rigorous assessment of the science and information available to it.

JOURNALIST: The Climate Change Authority has recommended ceasing native forest logging. Is that something that the Federal Government is going to try and get all the states to do, including Tasmania?

JULIE COLLINS: Well, obviously, as you indicate, that is a matter for state governments. We've been very clear, as a Federal Government, that we support a sustainable forest industry. We of course have been investing in the forest industry. We've invested hundreds of millions of dollars in plantations. We're investing money in terms of research about getting better utilisation of our fibre. We know Australia doesn't have enough timber and we're a net importer of timber. What we need to do of course is to have more timber available here in in Australia and we continue to work on that with the industry.

JOURNALIST: Given that the Climate Change Authority has recommended ceasing native forest logging, do you think that's something that should be done here in Tasmania?

JULIE COLLINS: Well the Climate Change Authority has recommended a range in terms of a target for 2035. We have accepted the advice in terms of a range of 62 to 70 per cent by 2035. They've also given us a list of possible things that we could do to get there, to reach that target. As a government, we're making decisions and we've announced investments in recent days, weeks and even previously about how we intend to do that.

JOURNALIST: And just a final question. If there is a detection of avian influenza on Heard Island, will that be publicly announced through the Australian Antarctic Division, through the Environment Department, through your department and other departments, how will that actually be made public?

JULIE COLLINS: Yeah, thank you for that. We have been working right across government with a One Health perspective when it comes to the H5 avian influenza and its possibility of arriving in Australia. We've heard from experts that it's a matter of when, not if. We have undertaken a range of exercises right across government about how we would respond depending on where it was detected and then what that then triggers and a whole range of notifications and how we go about that. I'm happy to hand over to the experts in terms of particularly what would happen on Heard Island but we have of course modelled that and our government has been working with other governments as I've said with industry and indeed with environmental NGOs and other not-for-profits about making sure that we're all together.

One of the things, as Agriculture Minister, that I'm particularly concerned about is about making sure that an outbreak doesn't get into our food supply system. We saw of course a couple of outbreaks of the H7 bird flu and how that impacted our eggs supply in Australia. So what we have been doing is investing to make sure that we're as prepared as we can be should the H5 virus hit Australia. We've invested an additional $100 million to be able to do that and that's on top of the funding that our government has put into biosecurity now over a billion dollars since we've come to office.

JOURNALIST: One more question just before we go. If there is a detection of H5 avian influenza on Heard Island, will the government be releasing images of the deceased animals if there are some there?

JULIE COLLINS: Well, we'll work through that about whether or not that's in the best interest of the Australian public. We want to be as transparent as we can be in terms of whether or not these viruses are in Australia. What you see from our government is of course notifications as early as possible. I've done one just in the last week in terms of the Khapra beetle coming in in some nappies. So we're as transparent as we can be. Obviously, we don't want to put things up that alarm and distress people but what I would say is that we're taking this very seriously.

JOURNALIST: Can I get a comment on when you'd make the notification? Would you see high mortalities or would you wait for testing?

JULIE COLLINS: We'll hand over to the experts for that.

JULIE MCINNES: Yeah thanks, look we've put a lot of work into our preparedness and response plan for when we arrive at Heard Island and if there is any signs and symptoms of H5 bird flu. We've got an HPI coordinator, so that's the high pathogenic avian influenza when you're looking at HPAI, but HPAI coordinator who is our contact through the voyage management team to the Australian Antarctic Division and the operations team there. We'll provide information about what we're seeing on the island to the coordinator and they'll be working very closely with the HPAI taskforce, with DAF and with Federal Government around what they're seeing on the island.

Now as I said earlier, we're not going to be able to confirm whether there's presence of avian influenza or H5 bird flu on the island until we've got those samples tested. So we can see what we can see. We've also got to understand that mortalities on these islands are not unusual. You know, if you imagine sitting inside a David Attenborough documentary, you know, there's a lot of animals that die through natural causes on the island. So what we're looking at is what's above baseline level and making that assessment. The other thing to think about too is that this H5 bird flu may have arrived last year and so it might not be really obvious at first when we turn up, if it is present there. So we've seen some imagery from other sites eight months on, ten months on from what it looks like after an outbreak and so that might be quite subtle when we first turn up.

So we're going to be using a range of tools like the drones, ground surveys and the testing to try and get a full picture of what we're seeing there. But once those samples come back to Australia, they'll be tested, so that will take a couple of weeks to actually get that information out. And the information will be conveyed through that taskforce and also through the chief veterinary officer within Australia.