Conservationists slam Albanese government’s $145m bird flu spend as deadly virus spreads

The Albanese government is seeking to bolster its response to H5N1 bird flu with an almost $150m funding boost as Australia deals with the first-ever mammal fatalities.

Commonwealth, state, and territory governments will equally fund $125m for “immediate national emergency biosecurity response activities” to the bird flu outbreak – which has intensified since June and which officials admit cannot be stopped – including surveillance and early detection, on-the-ground response capability, and programs targeting priority threatened species and conservation.

A further $20m will also be spent boosting and extending on-the-ground action targeting the resilience of key native species and in specific locations, such as federally managed national parks.

The government is seeking matched contributions from state and territory governments.

However, Invasive Species Council chief executive Jack Gough slammed the $20m as “less than 1 per cent of the bailout for Tomago” aluminium smelter.

“I think there’s a deep understanding in the environment and (agriculture) departments and among the environment and (agriculture) minister of the scale of the crisis, the amount of devastation that we’re going to see, and that we can’t stop it,” he said.

“There’s a knowledge that the solution is investing in the other things that protect wildlife, but the level of funding that’s been committed is deeply unserious.”

Mr Gough travelled to Canberra earlier this month alongside BirdLife chief executive Kate Millar to lobby for a $200m resilience package, which would bolster measures such as pest control to ensure threatened native species survived not just the current wave of bird flu but any subsequent ones.

He said that call “was always the floor – the minimum immediate investment needed to give our wildlife a fighting chance”.

“The reality is we will need much greater, sustained investment over the long term to help wildlife populations recover,” Mr Gough said.

“There is a huge difference between responding to bird flu and making sure our wildlife can survive it. Surveillance, testing and carcass removal are essential, but they won’t stop vulnerable wildlife populations being pushed towards extinction.”

Ms Millar said the funding package showed the government was “asleep at the wheel when it comes to nature”.

The funding was “sending the message that we’re powerless and we’re not powerless”, she said.

“There are so many practical programs that essentially government has already invested in – that money has run out and we’ve stopped doing the work,” Ms Millar continued, citing pest control.