David Littleproud (Maranoa, National Party, Shadow Minister for Agriculture) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. I refer to the Chief Veterinary Officer's briefing to the opposition on Thursday, where he advised that foot-and-mouth disease is uncontrolled and increasing, and to a subsequent comment from the minister for agriculture on Monday that Indonesia seems to be getting ahead of it. Who is correct, and has this confusion caused thousands of passengers to cross the border from Indonesia without proper screening and without disinfectant foot mats? Why is Labor making a bad situation worse?

Ms Catherine King (Ballarat, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I will tell you who is confused. What is your position on border closures? We have had one position put by you, one position put by all sorts of different members. What is your actual position? Again, can I say very clearly, this is an issue the government takes very seriously. We are taking the advice of the chief vet. We are taking the advice of the agriculture department. We have been rolling out sanitation mats, and I don't care who wants to take credit for that but they are there and are being put in place now. We know that this is a serious, serious threat to Australia's biosecurity, and this government have put in place the most serious measures, the most comprehensive measures, of any government that we have ever seen.