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A giant petrel found on the New Sputh Wales coast at Hawks Nest, north of Newcastle, has been confirmed as the state’s first case of the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu.

The positive test is the sixth confirmed case.

The NSW Government has been preparing for a positive result for some time and there is a clear plan in place to support industry and the community.

At this stage the result is limited to a single migratory seabird and has not impacted our poultry sector or domestic wildlife.

In all the conversations I’ve had and the interviews and press conferences I’ve held, no one has argued that the housing market was working fine the way it was. No one has been able to say that the status quo was fair or reasonable or sustainable for the future.

And once you get to that point, once everyone acknowledges that the system is broken. Then the choice for a party of government is very clear. If you don’t have the ticker, you can kick the can down the road and leave the problem to a future generation. Or you can do the hard thing, the right thing – and fix it. That is the choice we have made.

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