Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party, Shadow Minister for International Development and the Pacific) Share this | Hansard source

It's a disgrace. Thank you, Member for Barker.

The motion also calls on the government to immediately offer a 3D X-ray screening program with Indonesia so that organic and plant matter in luggage can be effectively identified. Mr Deputy Speaker Georganas, I was with you overseas last week, and we know that you take more than one pair of shoes when you go overseas. The difficulty is: what happens if microbes and matter are on a pair of shoes that is inside your briefcase? It's not picked up by the sniffer dogs, who do a great job, and not picked up by border security, who do a great job. The government should provide every bit of assistance it can, both financially and on the ground, with our agricultural experts and biosecurity teams, to help overcome this FMD problem, which has now spread to 22 of 37 Indonesian provinces—22 out of 37—particularly in Bali in Indonesia, where thousands of head of livestock have already been killed.

I know that Labor, when there was a television program back in 2011, stopped live exports just like that—like that—blaming perceived cruelty. Yes, some of the scenes shown on that Four Corners program were very unsightly, but the government stopped the live trade exports on a whim, because of perceived cruelty. This disease is crueller than anything shown on that program. Not taking stronger action is too risky for our agricultural and livestock industries.

In fact I've just got off the phone from three of my local abattoir owners: Will Barton from Gundagai, Heath Newton from Junee and Chris Cummins from Cowra. All operate highly successful sheep-processing plants. All employ hundreds upon hundreds of regional people. Will Barton was very circumspect. He spoke about the need to be vigilant. He spoke about the need to make sure that we put every measure in place that's needed now and certainly don't hold back on anything that might be needed. They are processing 4,000 sheep a day. They're back doing that. Labour shortages are one of the most critical areas in Gundagai. But Will has actually had word from the government, and I commend the government for that. I called out to the government after the election to assist in any way they could, and Will was happy with the response.

Chris Cummins at Cowra—again, they employ hundreds of people—is terrified. That was the word he used, not mine; I'm not over-egging it. He said anybody who is involved in this industry who is not terrified does not have their head screwed on properly and that if we get it in we'll never get it out. That's foot-and-mouth disease. He said he was very, very concerned about border controls, border biosecurity, and he wants everything put in place to make sure it doesn't happen. He mentioned the feral pig population, and I know the member for Wright has spoken about that as well. If it gets in the feral pig population in Papua New Guinea, it's all over. It is simply is all over. So we need to do everything we can, not just at our borders but to help Indonesia as well.

Heath Newton—Junee Prime Lamb: if you're having a roast or a side of lamb or a cutlet here in Canberra, chances are it'll be from Junee. He employs many hundreds of people—380, in fact. He's killing 5,000 sheep a day. He is very, very concerned about our export markets. As he said: 'Our whole export market is gone completely. We might as well shut it down if FMD gets into Australia.' He's not exaggerating, either. These people are practical, sensible people. These people are not fearmongers. These people are businesspeople. They are very worried about our ag industry. They're very worried about the people they employ. They're very worried about their regional communities. But they're also very worried about our nation. As Heath says, 'Where are the protocols?' We've heard nothing about, if it in fact does get into our nation, what we will do to hopefully eradicate it. If that is the case, well, it might be too far, too gone. And as he said, he needs assurances that it is going to be kept out of our country.

Chris Cummins is looking to expand and spend millions upon millions of dollars in providing the US export markets with his Breakout River Meats from Cowra. He has put the brakes on that because of this outbreak, because of this concern in Indonesia. So already it's stifling investment. Already it's terrifying the daylights out of people like Chris Cummins, who is one of the straightest shooters I have ever met.

After FMD was detected in Bali on 5 July, as the member for Maranoa pointed out, it took more than three weeks of indecision and delay for the government to introduce disinfectant footbaths at Australian international airports. That is a concern. I appreciate that that has been done now. We were assured of that at the briefing that Minister Watt provided to us last week, and we were appreciative of that. We are appreciative of whatever briefings can be done between the department and the opposition or between the minister and the opposition, and certainly whatever message the government can convey to allay any fears for the people we represent in regional Australia will be very much welcomed.

I come to this in a bipartisan way. I know the member for Maranoa does as well. He has asked me to move this motion. He is in shadow cabinet, but he is very concerned as somebody who has a very large electorate in Queensland. It doesn't matter whether you're in Queensland or what state you're in. It doesn't even matter if you represent a city electorate. This is of great concern to all Australians. Whilst I appreciate that the fear might be more widespread in regional areas where we understand the mechanics and the nuances of country living, this should be of concern to every Australian who's ever ventured into a supermarket, gone into the meat section and decided to buy a lamb roast or a side of beef or whatever the case might be.

This motion calls on the government to, as I say, immediately offer a 3D X-ray screening program with Indonesia and immediately enforce a ban—importantly—on all passengers from Indonesia bringing in any food products. We saw today that person bringing in a McDonald's burger. Seriously, these people are just trashing our reputation and placing at risk our biosecurity and our agricultural industry. I applaud this motion and I commend it to the House.

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