Environment Minister Murray Watt is being urged to block a proposal to allow live parrot imports from countries beyond New Zealand, with conservationists warning it would expose Australia’s native birds to unnecessary disease risks.
The proposal, developed through a decade-long import risk analysis by the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, would allow live parrots from countries beyond New Zealand to be imported into Australia for the first time in almost 30 years, reversing a ban introduced after previous imports brought new bird diseases into the country.
While its release has been temporarily paused as highly pathogenic H5 bird flu reaches Australia, the outbreak only reinforces why this reckless proposal should be abandoned altogether.
‘This is an unnecessary and dangerous risk that could have irreversible consequences for Australia’s native parrots,’ Invasive Species Council Policy Director Dr Carol Booth said.
‘Australia is already facing one of the biggest wildlife disease threats in our history with H5 bird flu at our doorstep. The last thing we should be doing is opening another pathway for exotic diseases to enter the country.
‘Australia is very special for parrots (including cockatoos): home to 56 species, 51 of which occur nowhere else on Earth. Twenty-two species or subspecies are nationally threatened, including the critically endangered orange-bellied parrot and swift parrot.
‘The last time Australia allowed parrot imports in the 1990s, 2 deadly pathogens entered the country – and at least one is now established in native bird populations.
‘Australia’s biosecurity system should take a precautionary approach when the stakes are this high. Once a new wildlife disease establishes here, there is no putting it back in the box.
‘Minister Watt has the opportunity to resolve this once and for all by removing every parrot species from the Live Import List and ensuring Australia’s native birds are never exposed to this unnecessary risk.
‘This proposal exposes serious cracks in Australia’s biosecurity system. The risks to native wildlife are being underestimated, and the consequences would be felt for decades.
Australia is the evolutionary heartland of parrots. ‘The Australian Government should not gamble with their future to satisfy a small number of pet keepers and hobbyists.
‘Australians expect strong biosecurity and leadership that protects what makes this country unique.’
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Background:
- The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) is proposing to allow parrots for pet-keeping and aviaries to be imported into Australia from countries beyond New Zealand for the first time since 1995.
- Australia banned most parrot imports in 1995 after imported birds introduced serious diseases, including Pacheco’s disease and proventricular dilatation disease. The only exception to this ban is pet parrots from New Zealand, which itself does not permit parrot imports.
- The arrival of highly pathogenic H5 bird flu has increased concerns about introducing additional diseases that could threaten native wildlife. The Australian Government has emphasised the importance of reducing other threats to susceptible species as the best defence to H5 bird flu in wildlife. In the face of one unstoppable disease, it would be perverse to risk introducing new preventable diseases.
- Approval for importing live animals is required from both DAFF (under the Biosecurity Act 2015) and the Environment Minister (under the EPBC Act 1999). The Invasive Species Council is calling on Environment Minister Murray Watt to remove all 33 parrot species from the Live Import List and prohibit live parrot imports from overseas.
- Australia is very special for parrots (including cockatoos): home to 56 species, 51 of which occur nowhere else on Earth. Twenty-two species or subspecies are nationally threatened, including the critically endangered orange-bellied parrot and swift parrot.
- Because most Australian parrots have evolved in isolation for millions of years, they are likely to be immunologically naive and highly susceptible to some pathogens from overseas.
- Threatened species may be extra vulnerable due to loss of diversity in genes important for immunological defence. Orange-bellied parrots have lost 62% of their genetic diversity, including for genes essential for first-line immune defence (link). With fewer than 200 left in the wild and assessed as 87% likely to be extinct by 2038, a new disease could tip them into extinction.
- Among the known pathogens that could arrive with parrot imports and cause severe disease or death are the following (the descriptions come from the import risk review):
- avian paraavulavirus 3: highly contagious, can cause severe or fatal disease in orange-bellied parrots and other Neophema species (a genus endemic to Australia)
- psittacine poxvirus: establishment risk is high, can cause systemic or severe disease
- avian orthoavulavirus 1: highly contagious, can cause acute disease, death or chronic illness
- avian bornavirus: detected in >80 parrot species, one of the greatest threats to endangered parrots, may be carried with no clinical signs and is difficult to diagnose
- Many other disease risks are unknown, with new potential pathogens being discovered every year.
Image: David Cook
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