00:02Warwick Biggs moved to Nelson to indulge a lifelong passion for bird watching.
00:07But he's been devastated by what he's seen as bird flu takes its toll.
00:12There are hundreds and hundreds, if not thousands, of dead ones all along the estuary.
00:17Crested terns, pelicans and other seabirds have died on the southwest coastline,
00:22but when it comes to disposing of diseased carcasses,
00:26locals say they've been left to clean up themselves.
00:28Where is the Victorian Government? They should be here. It's a scandal.
00:33Christina McFarlane-Loris reported a dead turn to Victorian authorities last week.
00:38She was told to wear protective equipment and double bag the bird and dispose of it safely.
00:44I was absolutely flabbergasted to be told that it would go in my local waste bin.
00:50And I said, are you joking?
00:53They should be burnt. Not put in a garbage chip as some people have suggested.
00:58Seagulls, ibis, go to garbage chips. That will spread the disease to them.
01:02Just across the border in South Australia, the response has been very different.
01:08Authorities are conducting regular patrols to collect carcasses and euthanise sick birds,
01:14as well as installing a bio-bin to help safely dispose of dead birds.
01:19The Federal Government has topped up the national bird flu response by $125 million.
01:26But the Victorian Government has remained silent, declining an interview,
01:30and issuing a statement saying it's focused on protecting at-risk species and responding quickly to new detections.
01:37I mean, we're struggling to know what they're even doing, to be completely honest,
01:41and what is happening on the South Australian border is a really clear example of that.
01:45When the Government says there is nothing that we can do, I say that is a lie.
01:51That is a flat, outright lie.
01:54A call to action that's going unanswered.
01:57A call to action that's going unanswered.
01:57.
01:58You
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