Latest / Early Edition with Ryan Bridge / Andrew Hoggard: Biosecurity Minister on preparing farms for a bird flu outbreak

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Andrew Hoggard: Biosecurity Minister on preparing farms for a bird flu outbreak · Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: The bird flu government is tightening up the rules for
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: poultry farmers ahead of what they're saying will be a
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: mass bird flu outbreak. Any farm with over one hundred
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: birds are going to have to submit a contingency plan
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: to MPI. It has to outline how they would safely
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: and humanly cull their stock if it was to get infected.
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: Andrew Hoggart is the Biosecurity Minister of the man in
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  Speaker 1: charge of doing all of this, joins me. Now, hello Andrew,
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: good morning. Been a week since the last case. Is
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: that because we haven't found them, or perhaps it's not
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: as widespread as we thought.
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  Speaker 2: Well, I don't want to kiss, but you know, we're
• 0:34
  Speaker 2: getting about a thousand. We've had about a thousand notifications
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  Speaker 2: and been out checking in pure of staff being out
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: looking along beaches and other places where they think birds
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: may could have shown up where the last two have
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: been in no sign yet, so look, it may have
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: just been a weather pat or something like that that
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: forced a few up. Expectation though, is if they're obviously
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: making it to us in Australia, they've moved around the Antarctica,
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: so we can probably expect more in spring.
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: Okay, so we've got to come up with a plan.
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: So you've released the new rules, what are they trying
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: to achieve?
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  Speaker 2: So basically it's about lifting the biosecurity on each farm
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  Speaker 2: and making sure you know, people are really looking at
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: how can they prevent wildlife getting into the farm and
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: infecting their birds, and then if there was an infection,
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  Speaker 2: what are the steps you're going to take quickly depopulate
• 1:28
  Speaker 2: the shed and sterilear clean everything before repopulation because if
• 1:33
  Speaker 2: you sort of just leave a whole dimess of birds
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: and that creates a risk for more spread and potentially
• 1:40
  Speaker 2: other farms getting infected. We have been working, you know,
• 1:43
  Speaker 2: we've had developed with the industry a bi security plan
• 1:46
  Speaker 2: template last year and have had the offer to farmers
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: with MPI on farm support to help put these plans together.
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: So we're there to help and run around, run around
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: to all of the smaller scale producers in the last
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: week restating that offer and following up with those that
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: are keen to get that help.
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: But how much of a job, how much of how
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  Speaker 1: much work is this going to bean for the farmers?
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  Speaker 1: I mean, how many hours are going to take them
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  Speaker 1: to come up with this contingency plan.
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  Speaker 2: Well, most of them will already have most of the
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  Speaker 2: measures in place in terms of or at least have
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: protocols and all the rest of it in place. And
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  Speaker 2: that's why, you know, half of them, most farms of
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: is it, already have a lot of the stuff in place,
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: and that's why we've put that offer of support out there.
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: You know, at the worst case scenario, someone's got absolutely
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: nothing in place, you're possibly looking at, you know, a
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: good week stuck in the office writing stuff. But again
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: will help with sorting that out. But I don't. I
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: think most people have got a lot of the stuff together,
• 2:55
  Speaker 2: and we're they.
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: To help having having this sort of stuff ready to go.
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: I mean, there's part of the job, really, isn't it.
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: I mean if it was, if it wasn't bird for
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: it might be something else. This is something that most
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: responsible farmers, Yeah, they've already got on top of they Yeah.
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: Look, most of the poultry farm, well, all of the
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: poultry farms I've visited, it's far more stringent by security
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  Speaker 2: measures than what exists on my dairy farm. So anyone
• 3:19
  Speaker 2: can sort of rock up to my dairy farm and
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  Speaker 2: wander on in, whereas with the poultry farms you've got
• 3:24
  Speaker 2: to sign and there's often locked gates, there's and quite
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: frankly that I'm just not going to accept anyone that
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: rocks up the standard practices. Hey, if you've been anywhere
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: near any other birds forty eight hours, you're not allowed
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: on our property. So the ones I've visited really good
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: levels of by security already. It's just about making sure
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: everyone's up to that similar type level.
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: Very good May I good luck continue Andrew Hoggard as
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: a buy A security minister, Thank you for your time.
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: For more Familily edition with Ryan Bridge, Listen live to
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: news Talks. It'd be from five am weekdays or FOLLO
• 4:00
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