Nerves build over foot and mouth disease threat

THE Federal Government has come under fire from Leader of the Nationals and Shadow Minister for Agriculture Peter Walsh for failing to implement strict new biosecurity measures to stop foot and mouth disease (FMD) reaching Australia.

The disease affects all cloven-hoofed animals, including cattle, sheep, pigs and goats.

Mr Walsh is calling for the government to enforce sterilisation of footwear for all people arriving from Indonesia given the current FMD outbreak there.

“FMD is easy to transmit but will be impossible to combat if it breaches our borders, which is why we must take every action now to prevent it reaching Australian farms,” he said.

Mr Walsh’s comments were prompted by the visit of Federal Agriculture Minister Murray Watt to Jakarta to meet with authorities on the FMD outbreak in Indonesia.

The Nationals Leader said that the Federal Government has chosen to focus its efforts on advertising at the airport rather than introducing strict measures to ensure footwear that may be carrying the disease is sterilised or disposed of.

“With thousands of Australians travelling to Indonesia at the moment, more safeguards must be put in place,” Mr Walsh said.

He put the potential cost for a small, contained outbreak of FMD at up to $6 billion.

“Victorian and Australian producers can’t afford the comprehensive trade restrictions and strict isolation protocols that would be required if an outbreak occurred,” Mr Walsh said.

The Federal Government this month announced a range of additional measures to prevent an FMD outbreak occurring in Australia.

They include extra screening of travellers, luggage and mail arriving from Indonesia and additional training for airport biosecurity staff, with biosecurity officers to board flights coming from Indonesia to provide FMD advice to passengers.

Detector dogs trained to identify meat and other animal products will be assigned to duty at Darwin and Cairns Airports, with such dogs already stationed at other international airports in Australia.

Additional signage and the distribution of flyers at major airports is intended to inform travellers of FMD risk and precautions.

The Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF) is running a free Foot and Mouth Disease webinar at 7pm on Thursday July 14, discussing the measures being taken by the Commonwealth and Victorian Governments to prevent FMD from entering Australia, with cases having spread to the popular Indonesian tourist destination of Bali.

Webinar speakers include VFF president Emma Germano, Dr Chris Parker (Head of the National Animal Disease Taskforce, Commonwealth Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries), and Dr Megan Scott (principal officer – Emergency Animal Disease, Chief Veterinary Officer’s Unit, Agriculture Victoria).

South Gippsland Shire Council describes agriculture as the backbone of the local economy, saying FMD could have significant impact on agricultural businesses and the economy, and urges the farming community to join the online webinar.

Visit https://www.vff.org.au/foot-and-mouth-disease-free-webinar/ to register for the online session.