Acting PM says mouse plague should be 'rehomed into inner city apartments'

Acting Prime Minister Michael McCormack has declared mice should be rehomed in "inner-city apartments" after being asked in Parliament about a federal response to the mouse plague ravaging regional NSW.

It's estimated up to $1 billion in damage has been caused to the state's crops by the ongoing ecological disaster, with fears of more to come in spring if farmers are not adequately supported.

Responding to a Labor question during Question Time on if the federal government had a plan to combat the plague - Nationals leader Mr McCormack initially spruiked the government's newly-minted free trade agreement with the UK.

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However, he then pivoted to launch an attack on animal rights activists.

"There is nothing worse than the stench of mice, nothing worse than having mice eat your grain, mice running around your house, farm and factory," Mr McCormack said.

"We have of course the People for Ethical Treatment of Animals coming out ... saying the poor, little, curious creatures should be rehomed.

"Well, actually, I agree with PETA - they should be rehomed, into their inner-city apartments, so they can nibble away at their food and their feet at night, and scratch their children at night."

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Addressing the initial question, Mr McCormack said the fight against the mouse plague was the responsibility of the states.

Mr McCormack is Acting Prime Minister while Scott Morrison is overseas.

Labor MP for Sydney Tanya Plibersek denounced Mr McCormack's response as unnecessarily hostile.

"This isn't a fight between city and country, it's a fight to help farmers," she tweeted.

Last month, a PETA activist sparked an outcry when she claimed that governments had acted too slowly to help farmers "humanely" combat the mouse plague.

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Aleesha Naxakis told 3AW in May that PETA were realists and understood that by that point, poisoning the mice was the only option.

But she claimed if government support had been quicker in coming, farmers could have used more humane methods, including trapping and releasing the mice.

The NSW government has announced hundreds of millions of dollars worth of support packages, including rebates for mouse baits.

There have been concerns that one bait the state government is seeking to use, bromadiolone, could pose a threat to native wildlife.

Bromadiolone is currently banned for outdoor use in Australia, and the NSW government is seeking special permission from the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority.