The Country 13/08/26: Chris Russell talks to Jamie Mackay

Our Australian correspondent looks at some of the unintended consequences of bird flu. Plus, why Pauline Hanson is ruling the “Bush”.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
It is all quite on the western front here in
New Zealand. Fortunately at the moment, touchwood around the bird flu,
just the two cases as we speak. Not so in Australia.
Let's head over there. Our Ossie correspondent is Chris Russell.
Chris unintended consequences from the bird flu in Australia.

Speaker 2 (00:19):
Yeah, Now, I'll bet you I've got a bit of information, Jamie,
you that you and your listeners didn't know. But did
you know that a badminton shuttlecock is made from sixteen
feathers and there are only three feathers in the left
wing of a goose or a chalk which will actually
provide those feathers. Now, there's something I bet you didn't know.

(00:42):
Next time it comes on in trivia, you're going to
get that answer and to be the only one in
the ruin Jamie.

Speaker 1 (00:46):
Well, are badminton players under threat from the bird flu?

Speaker 2 (00:49):
Well, the cost of the shuttlecocks that they make out
of these sixteen figures has absolutely sky rocketed now and
they're now even thinking of going to plastic shuttlecocks, which
is anathema to these players. I'm talking about the champion
players all over the world. But you know, this mass
coming that's occurred, particularly in China, means that most of

(01:13):
the poultry farms have lost all these and a dozen
as thirties, which is the sort of standard match grade
shuttlecocks used to cost about thirty thirty five dollars. It's
now about seventy dollars. And the Great Southern Badminton Association
said that organization spends about three thousand dollars on shuttles

(01:38):
every four months. So you know there there's an unintended
consequence of bird flu. I've learned something definitely today I
had no idea about. But as far as the general
story here, we're up to about two hundred and fifteen
cases here now. The latest cases of somewhat disturbing because
they found Australian native birds infected six of them. I

(02:00):
think at Wentworth, which is where the Darling River meets
the Murray, right up on the top of Victoria. So
that's well inland and the latest thing we're doing now
there's so far has been no site of any sort
of problem with any of the poultry farms. All of
the Victorian poultry farms have been order to keep all
their trucks locked up from now on, regardless of whether

(02:24):
they're supposedly free range or not. That's a joke anyway,
because only five percent of the birds everyone out of
the sheds when they were free range, but now none
of them can go out of their sheds, and they're
trying desperately to solve that problem. The other thing they're doing, Jamie,
and good luck with this is to vaccinate Australian species
against bird flu so that they won't catch it. Now,

(02:47):
some of those, like the fairy penguins on Phillip Island,
down on Port Phillip Bay and Victoria, not so difficult
because they're wandering around on the ground. Have you ever
But the thing with these vaccinations is they have to
all these animals have to be back twice. Now have
you ever tried to catchu are galar in full flight, vaccinated,
let it go, and then find the same galar two

(03:08):
weeks later, the vaccinated again. How are they doing that?
I have no idea, but that sounds like a process
and sounds like something that's unlikely to have a massive impact.

Speaker 1 (03:18):
I would have thought, Jamie, let's just finish on a
new survey which has suggested the National Party, which is
sort of your rural Aussie Party may lose every seat
to one Nation. This is Pauline Hanson's outfit. Is the
Bush as you call it, universally embraces Pauline. I can't
quite get my head around embracing Pauline.

Speaker 2 (03:38):
Yes, well, I mean they have totally. The National Party
has lost the color of its card really in terms
of in terms of what's going to happen in the
Victorian elections in particular, and the Nationals in fact, would
be left between zero and two seats in the Federal
House of Representatives if an election was held now. If
you believe the polls, one nation is leading in almost

(04:02):
every regional and rural electric in the country. And this
demos AU modeling based on responses from ten thousand voters,
projects that one Nation is ahead in thirty nine of
the forty one seats classified as rural or regional and
on course for a hung parliament with Labor if an

(04:24):
election was held now. So down to Victoria, they're saying
that definitely down in Victoria they can take all the
rural seats, which is eight of the main regional seats
down there, five held by the Coalition and one held
by a national and you know Queensland again. Of course
they've always been stung in Queensland. But the primary voting

(04:47):
Queensland is now at thirty four percent and leads in
twenty of the state thirty seats. There are only thirty
seats in the Queensland Parliament, twenty of them one nation
is ahead. So this is a phenomenon. Now. I think
people this is a certain amount of this is knee jeck.
They're so disappointed with our current government. They're so disappointed

(05:07):
with the response to getting out of the opposition. Whether
that translate actually when the chips are down and you're
walking into the polling booth, that's another question. But it held.
There's absolutely no doubt at all for what Pauline Hansen
is doing is resonating with voters, and she's on a
flyer and she's flat out in her new Gena Reinhardt
supplied little plane, flying around making the most of it

(05:29):
while she can.

Speaker 1 (05:29):
Jamie Chris Russell, thanks for your time. We live in
a weird and wonderful world. Catch you next week.

Speaker 2 (05:34):
No worries