Mr TOLLNER (3:54 PM) —My question is addressed to the Minister for Health and Ageing. Would the minister update the House on the government’s latest efforts to meet the threat of a flu pandemic.

Mr ABBOTT (Minister for Health and Ageing) —I thank the member for Solomon for his question and I appreciate that this is an issue of considerable concern in his electorate and elsewhere. I should point out to the House that a new influenza pandemic is not a certainty—it is not even a probability—but it is a distinct possibility and that is why the government has so far invested some $170 million in ensuring that Australia is as well prepared as possible. Australia has just about the world’s largest per capita antiviral stockpile. The government is stockpiling some 50 million syringes and 40 million surgical masks. We have purchased an additional 303 ventilator machines for distribution to public hospitals. In consultation with the states and territories, we have produced a national management plan for pandemic influenza and this will be updated before the end of the year on the basis of expert and public input.

The National Health and Medical Research Council has recently announced that $7.5 million will be made available for urgent research into the prevention, treatment and management of avian flu. Last week, assisted by a $5 million government grant, CSL began live trials of a candidate pandemic vaccine with mass production possible in the new year. People are entitled to be concerned about the consequences of any possible pandemic. I can assure them that all practical precautions will be considered and that so far all feasible precautions have been taken by the Howard government.