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

by leave—At the request of the member for Maranoa, I move:

That this House:

(1) recognises that Australia faces a foot and mouth disease (FMD) biosecurity crisis on its borders;

(2) notes that:

(a) to date, Indonesia has recorded hundreds of thousands of FMD cases during the uncontrolled outbreak of this disease;

(b) an outbreak of FMD in Australia would inflict catastrophic damage on Australia's $80 billion livestock industry, decimate the agriculture sector, significantly hurt the Australian economy, and increase the everyday cost of food;

(c) since FMD was detected in Bali on 5 July 2022, it took more than three weeks of indecision and delay for the Government to introduce disinfectant footbaths at international Australian airports; and

(d) the Government has failed to respond quickly and decisively to this biosecurity threat, and has failed in its responsibility to introduce critical biosecurity protections to keep Australia safe from FMD; and

(3) calls on the Government to:

(a) immediately offer a 3D X-ray screening program with Indonesia, so that organic and plant matter in luggage can be effectively identified;

(b) immediately enforce a ban on all passengers from Indonesia bringing any food products into Australia; and

(c) immediately confirm the current biosecurity risk level and at what point, predicated on scientific data, the international border with Indonesia would need to be temporarily closed, in order to protect Australia from the threat of FMD.

Foot-and-mouth disease has not been in our country for 130 years. The Labor government needs to take stronger action to reduce the very real threat—potentially the imminent threat—of FMD, which would devastate the $80 billion livestock agricultural industry. I know that the member for Barker is going to have more to say about this as well, but I've moved this motion on behalf of the member for Maranoa—the shadow agriculture minister and the Nationals leader. He, like me, and I'm sure the member for Barker and the member for Wright, has had so many farmers, stock and station agents, abattoir owners and others expressing their fears about what foot-and-mouth disease would do to Australia if it arrived in this country. I'm desperately concerned that traces have already been detected in both Melbourne and Adelaide. This is a significant threat that I can't underplay.

Many Riverina and Central West farmers have asked me to implore the government to stop all travel to and from Bali. Now, I know that is a drastic measure—that's not what I'm requesting here—but it has been asked by farmers. This motion calls on the government to immediately confirm the current biosecurity risk level, and at what point—predicated on scientific data, and science is extremely important in this regard; it's been stated by the member for Maranoa—the international border with Indonesia would need to be temporarily closed in order to protect Australia from the threat of foot-and-mouth disease. I believe the government has a responsibility to seriously consider every option on the table.

I appreciate that the minister for agriculture, Senator Murray Watt, has had a briefing. It was one of the best-attended meetings I've ever seen in this place. It was held in the theatrette last week. The number in attendance just confirmed the nature and the seriousness that we certainly hold on this side, and I'm sure others opposite do too. Whilst I appreciate that drastic steps may need to be taken, nothing should be off the table when it comes to protecting not just the agricultural industry but, indeed, our nation. I cannot believe that somebody who once occupied a seat in this place and is now a minister in the West Australian parliament, Alannah MacTiernan, suggested that beef and dairy prices might be reduced if foot-and-mouth disease took hold in Australia. That is just—

Tony Pasin (Barker, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Infrastructure and Transport) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It's a disgrace.

Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party, Shadow Minister for International Development and the Pacific) Share this | Link to 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.

Steve Georganas (Adelaide, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is the motion seconded?

Scott Buchholz (Wright, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the motion and reserve my right to speak.

Luke Gosling (Solomon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'd like to note, first off, that, thankfully, there is currently no evidence that foot-and-mouth disease exists in Australia, and we certainly hope that that remains the case. The risk of it entering has been classed by experts as being about 11 per cent over the next five years, but we know that, if people continue to flout the very strong recommendations, guidance and directions that have been given, that risk could increase.

I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that, if we are not very vigilant, this disease has the potential to ravage our nation's agriculture sector. As the previous speaker said, you don't need to live in a rural location to know how devastating this may be. In a worst-case scenario, it's estimated that, if FMD were to get into the country, it could cost us as much as $80 billion over several years. Our beef and livestock industries could be devastated. Our wool and dairy industries could also suffer greatly. Countless jobs would be at risk. Everyday food items would become much more expensive. Indeed, already confidence in the market has been rattled, and we hope that our quick response will encourage confidence for markets to return.

I can't stress enough that this is an issue that we take extremely seriously in the government. We are obviously very happy that so far it has not got into Australia. In fact, it hasn't since 1872. It's been very pleasing to me, coming from the Territory, that the minister, Senator Murray Watt, has taken every phone call and every message from me on this issue. I'm representing our industry—not just Northern Territorian farmers but also farmers from the electorate of the previous speaker, farmers I know from having been in Queensland recently and farmers I know in Tasmania. It doesn't matter that the Tasmanian farmers are on an island off an island that FMD hasn't got to yet. They know how devastating it can be. So I'm obviously very pleased with the fast response of the minister.

Preceding Minister Watt's visit to Indonesia, I went to Indonesia with the Prime Minister. Biosecurity, and offering that vital support, was one of the main topics that we discussed with the President of Indonesia. Those discussions over there also led to the implementation of a number of protective measures. Back in June, the Commonwealth gave biosecurity a $14 million funding increase. I think that's important because we know that a number of these measures come with a price tag, and we need to be funding those measures. We have added more detector dogs in Darwin International Airport in my electorate and in Cairns Airport, and we have rolled out sanitation foot mats at all international airports. We have been raising awareness for all Australian travellers, particularly those to Indonesia, to be extra vigilant about cleaning their shoes and clothes if they've been anywhere near livestock or in rural areas or markets. I will go further than that and say that everyone travelling to Indonesia, regardless of where they've been, should be doing that.

As I said, for my electorate of Solomon this is particularly important, with Darwin being just a short flight away from Denpasar. Territorians, like so many other Australians—particularly those in the west—love to holiday in Indonesia, our near neighbour. So I'm very pleased that we are helping Indonesia, which is dealing with this scourge of FMD, and I'm urging travellers to follow all of the biosecurity advice upon their return home to keep our country safe.

It's not just about farmers. Anyone who has any idea of the devastation wrought by FMD in Britain knows it's not just the farming communities that suffer; it's whole communities around that. Everything is linked. It is just too awful to imagine. So I do ask those travellers for their patience.

Tony Pasin (Barker, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Infrastructure and Transport) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Deputy Speaker, it might come as no surprise to you that, as someone who represents one of our premium livestock-producing regions, I've been very vocal about the need for those opposite to do more to mitigate the risk of foot-and-mouth disease entering Australia. The livestock producers in my electorate are on tenterhooks and, quite frankly, rightly so. The Labor government's slow reaction to the threat that remains on our doorstep will be to the detriment of our economy, an $80 billion a year loss. Every single Australian will pay, whether it's at the checkout or with their jobs.

I've heard reports that travellers arriving in Australia from Indonesia are not being screened. Even if they have declared themselves to have been on an Indonesian farm, they're just being waved through. The announcements being made on flights aren't good enough. People aren't paying attention. The news of a passenger today attempting to bring a Macca's breakfast meal into the country from Bali should be proof enough that people aren't paying attention.

Additional sniffer dogs are welcome, but they actually can't identify FMD. We're not screening 100 per cent of the passengers. We're still not screening all luggage. We still haven't banned the import of meat products. Footbaths are by no means a silver bullet, but they're a fairly simple measure, and that took the government four weeks to implement. There were literally thousands of Australians, and others visiting Australia, who entered our country and were simply waved through without putting their feet on those mats.

Under a coalition government, we wouldn't have wasted any time in committing to screen all passengers arriving from Indonesia and banning passengers from bringing food into the country—after all, we've got enough. We would have introduced foot mats four weeks ago, and we would have offered the use of 3D X-ray technology to screen passenger luggage on departure in Indonesia.

While the minister sat back, literally tens of thousands of travellers walked through our airports, straight into our country, unchecked. And if you wonder why my producers are on tenterhooks, quite frankly it's because it only takes one established case. And not only do we need more resources at our borders; we need to do more on the ground in Indonesia. The vaccination effort in Indonesia has been hampered by a lack of supply of vaccines and, indeed, people to administer the vaccines. Australia should be doing more to help the Indonesian vaccine efforts.

Labor's FMD failures risk costing the Australian economy $80 billion a year. The livelihood of our livestock producers, transport industries, meatworkers—all of that—is at risk, as is the cost to Australian food producers. For those opposite, let me just bring you into the world of an FMD outbreak. If there is a single confirmed case in this country all livestock for a period of 72 hours will not be able to be moved anywhere. As bad as that sounds, that is nowhere near as bad as it gets.

The member for O'Connor posed a question at a recent briefing, and I'm grateful the minister arranged that briefing. Let's assume, as the member for O'Connor did, the best-case scenario of a small, contained outbreak somewhere in Australia, where the outbreak hasn't entered our feral herds—that could be feral pigs, feral deer et cetera. How long would you anticipate we would lose our export accreditation for? A couple of weeks?

Opposition members: No.

A couple of months?

Opposition members: No.

Several years was the answer. And that is an absolute best-case answer. For producers in my electorate who have geared their farms towards livestock production, who, quite frankly, because of the topography or native vegetation legislation, can't grow or produce anything else, there is literally just over a one-in-10 chance that they'll lose their livelihoods forever. This is like getting a dice and rolling it for a one-in-10 chance. And if that one-in-10 chance comes up—and those opposite are tilting those dice against Australian producers—that's the end of their production systems. It's a risk too great to take and we shouldn't have a minister sleepwalking us into that catastrophe.

Meryl Swanson (Paterson, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would just like to say that we do need to take very serious action about foot-and-mouth disease in Australia and we also need to take bipartisan action. We've just heard from the member for Barker and others, and I understand that anyone who is living in rural, regional and agricultural Australia has real fears.

There is clear and present danger with foot-and-mouth disease the world over. However, I find it somewhat galling that the opposition are now suddenly full of ideas after nine years of doing very little. There is no plan in place, and it is so frustrating to sit here and have them dish up all of these terrific ideas when, really, some would say they did sweet FA about FMD when they had the chance to do it.

My question to those opposite is, why did the former government not have a plan? They knew this threat was imminent but they sat on their hands. They did not provide the department with additional resources to plan for or prevent this threat. So please—through you, Mr Deputy Speaker—I implore the members of the now opposition not to come in here with all of their ideas. Where were these ideas for the last nine years? If this is such a critical thing, which we know it is, why weren't they working on it before? In fact, those opposite did not implement a single additional measure to address FMD, even as FMD was spreading across Indonesia.

Farmers across Australia are scared for their future, and who could blame them after a decade of neglect by this coalition government? This is why we're staring it down. The gall of a member opposite to stand here and say it took the current government three weeks to roll out citric acid mats at airports, when they had nine years to do something about this. They didn't put a single measure in place. They did not give the department more resources. For 10 years this sector has been served up breadcrumbs, and today they're getting a side of lip service with it from the opposition. Our government will ensure that we seize the opportunities in this sector and make the critical investments needed to protect current and future growth. As a government, we are now doing more for biosecurity with foot-and-mouth disease than has ever been done in Australia's history. We are remaining vigilant. We are doing everything we can.

A moment ago I heard the opposition asking us what we are doing to help Indonesia. This is what we're doing. On top of other measures, we're including one million vaccines to help Indonesia's outbreak, and we have a $14 million biosecurity package to bolster Australia's frontline defence and provide more technical support for countries currently battling FMD and lumpy skin disease. We are working with experts in the field to ensure the most tailored response in preventing the threat from landing on our shores. I implore the opposition: please, please, work with the government on this. I know that rural and regional Australia are terribly worried. Work with us. Don't scaremonger on this important topic—it's not even a topic or an issue; this is really important in terms of our food security.

I want to commend the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Foresty for immediately increasing surveillance and testing of meat and other animal products, both at our borders and in Indonesia. Quite frankly, the biggest risk for Australia in terms of foot-and-mouth disease is what we've seen the world over—it's packages. Packages coming from Indonesia are the things that pose the biggest risk to us. It's not people visiting farms and then coming back through airports. Whilst that's important, the biggest risk is packages. I implore everyone: please do not order food online from countries that we know have foot-and-mouth disease, particularly, at the moment, Indonesia. It is problematic. We all need to work together.

I implore the opposition: please don't scaremonger on this; let's work together. You had nine years to get a plan in place, which we could have implemented overnight. There was no plan. You didn't put enough resources into the department. So don't come in now with all the ideas and all the scaremongering and all the rallying of fear, when Australian agriculture needs your support. It needs resources and it needs everyday Australians to do their bit to ensure, if they do travel to Indonesia and other countries with foot-and-mouth disease, they do not bring it home.

Dan Tehan (Wannon, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Immigration and Citizenship) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak in support of this motion, because communities right across regional and rural Australia are deeply, deeply concerned about the possibility of a foot-and-mouth disease outbreak and the devastating impact that it would have in communities right across regional and rural Australia. More than anything, I implore the government and I implore the Prime Minister not to play politics with this issue. It is too important to have the government playing politics. So, when you're asked questions about this—and we saw this, sadly, from the Prime Minister in question time—don't go back to misquoting part of a tweet. Actually engage with everyone in the parliament who is asking questions about this, because our communities need those questions answered so they can get the surety that they are looking for.

Last Wednesday over 120 farmers and people involved in agricultural industry right across the board gathered in Colac in my electorate because they fundamentally wanted questions answered. They want to know how quickly the government is going to move to address this issue. The Prime Minister announced in early June that they were going to be providing vaccines to Indonesia. When will the vaccines arrive? How quickly will they be distributed? When will all food—all food—coming from Indonesia be banned? We know the risk is there when it comes through packages. But there is also the risk that it can come through luggage. So why isn't all luggage being screened? Why aren't we addressing that? Why aren't we offering to provide the 3-D screening technology to Indonesia, and why aren't we saying to them, 'We want to work with you to make sure that that's being put in place'?

It's very simple stuff that would make a world of difference. That would then enable us to say to regional and rural communities that everything is being done to make sure we are being protected from foot-and-mouth disease. The ag industry, the farmers in my communities, are so concerned by this that they have called for a temporary closure of the border while all these measures are put in place. They are so concerned that they want a temporary closure of the border so that they know that these measures are being put in place. To reassure them, we've got to make sure we are talking to them and informing them of what is taking place.

Previous members who have spoken in this debate have referred to the question that was asked by the member for O'Connor of officials: what would be the impact of foot-and-mouth disease on our ability to trade? Well, it would shut down our ability to trade for 72 hours. But our ability to get back to normal trading, on a best case scenario, would be two years. That is how serious this issue is. And that's why regional and rural Australia in particular is so concerned about it, and that's why this motion is so important. I say to the government: these measures are being put in place. We need to be informed of how quickly they're being put in place, and we're not, and we're crying out for that information to be provided.

But the most important thing that we need answered: we have seen the likelihood of the threat of FMD go from nine per cent to 11 per cent. These measures are being put in place. When can you inform regional and rural Australia that these measures are seeing that risk profile come down? When can we go to them and say that these measures that are being put in place are reducing the risk of an FMD outbreak? We've seen it go from nine per cent to 11 per cent. When will it start trending down? At this stage we have no idea, because there is no communication on this fundamental question. Are the measures that are being put in place actually doing anything to lower the risk of an FMD outbreak in Australia? That needs to be answered.

Fiona Phillips (Gilmore, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There can be no doubt whatsoever that foot-and-mouth disease is an extremely serious threat to our farming communities. I come from a dairy farming family. My kids still work on the family dairy farm. So it's not surprise that I take this threat seriously, and so do local farmers on the New South Wales south coast. It takes a lot to really rattle a farmer. They come from strong stock, and they see a lot in their day that makes them as tough as nails. But this disease is serious business. Farmer Tim called it a huge threat to Australian cattle industries. Farmer David raised the really important issue of the mental health impacts on local farmers. His words were, 'The cost will be off the scale.' He asked me to 'ensure that the failed Liberal status quo at immigration points doesn't continue'. Farmer Graham called it an industry-destroying disease. These are just some of the words from so many people contacting me who are concerned about this. And it's not just farmers who are at risk; it's butchers, it's everyone in that supply chain—and it could have serious implications for our economy.

So what has the Albanese government done to respond? Well, we have rolled out the biggest biosecurity package that Australia has ever seen to stop this industry destroying disease. We have worked quickly and we have gone hard. The Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry is leading our response on this issue. The government is working with industry leaders. It is working with the experts to make sure we get the response right. The minister went to Indonesia to ensure collaboration with them and to help them respond. Stemming the spread outside of Australia will be hugely important to keeping our cattle safe.

Our $14 million package is working to do this, sharing expertise and providing technical support with Indonesia, Timor-Leste and Papua New Guinea to manage the overseas outbreaks. We've given Indonesia one million vaccines to support this vaccination program. At home, we are focusing our resources on the places of highest risk; additional staff at airports; more biosecurity detector dogs; and additional training for staff. We've rolled out sanitation foot mats at international airports and established biosecurity response zones, the first time that has ever been done under section 365 of the Biosecurity Act 2015.

Tightening border security has also seen stronger clearance requirements for all travellers, increased screenings for goods that might pose a risk, and the suspension of import permits for animal products that were of concern. We've tightened the screening of mail as well, with all mail incoming from China and Indonesia now being screened for meat products. Every passenger travelling from Indonesia is getting risk profiled. If they are deemed high risk, they will be subject to additional screenings and more intensive checks. We know that there is high concern about the disease getting into northern Australia in particular, so we are also monitoring cattle and livestock across the north with our biosecurity plan in place so we can react quickly if necessary.

Perhaps one of the most important actions we are taking is to have this conversation with all Australians. I know that all Australians want to do the right thing for our farmers, so we needed to have the conversations with them so that they understand why this is important, what they can do to help and how it makes a difference. We are seeing the fruits of that labour already. Biosecurity officers at our international airports are already reporting improved compliance from travellers, which is wonderful to see. Rates of undeclared risk items and undeclared contaminated footwear were down. I want to thank absolutely everyone who is doing the right thing; it really does make a huge difference, and we are so grateful to you for helping keep this disease at bay.

I know some people want to see our borders close, and this is something that the minister has said is not necessary at this stage. It's not what the experts say is needed. Groups like the National Farmers Federation, Australian Meat Industry Council, Victorian Farmers Federation, Meat and Livestock Australia, AgForce, Australian Livestock Exporters Council and the NT Cattlemen's Association also don't believe it will help either. We will keep working with industry and the experts to get the response right. Right now, Australia remains foot-and-mouth disease free, and we are working hard every day to keep it that way. I want to thank everyone working on this across the industry, in our airports and in our mail centres, as well as travellers, importers and everyone who is doing the right thing to protect our crucial agriculture industry. Let's keep it up. Keep working together to protect our beloved farmers.

Nola Marino (Forrest, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Education) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The AUSVETPLAN disease strategy for foot-and-mouth disease says that foot-and-mouth is the single biggest threat to Australia's livestock industries, and an outbreak would cause far-reaching economic and social disruption in many parts of the community, including increased unemployment in the rural sector. I urge the government to take this extremely seriously. Every farmer that I met at the recent dairy conference was unbelievably concerned, and everyone who's contacted my office is the same.

I would encourage the government to invest even more in Indonesia and be that good neighbour, because every dollar spent in Indonesia will save over $1,000 in Australia. Stop it in Indonesia before it gets here. I want to see everyone and everyone's luggage screened. Every single person is a high risk, not just those who are deemed to be a high risk. Everyone is a high risk. They don't tell the truth on those forms. I don't know how you can possibly identify who is a high risk and who is not when often the people who work in the tourist areas actually live in those rural areas where the high risk exists. So there are real issues there.

I want to touch on a fact and make it a bit real for people. People in this place know that I'm a dairy farmer and was before I came into this place, and our family is still dairy farming. In our dairy business, this would be really hard to deal with. In fact, it would break our hearts. We know that one outbreak is going to shut down every movement for 72 hours. We know that if one positive is found then potentially it could be two years before we get to export again. That's if we've got the stock. At my dairy farm, I'm likely to get a regional veterinary officer, who will come to our place and test every animal. If we get one positive, nothing moves—no-one in, no-one out, and not our milk either. Then that positive will mean that there will be a cull, and the 50-plus years that we've put into the breeding of our herd, our beautiful cows, will be gone. They'll be shot and either burnt or buried. Then everyone within at least a three-kilometre radius will be tested, depending on what they might find in that area, and there will be an absolute freeze on any movement in that to start with. Every positive in that perimeter, every single time, will increase that area and that perimeter. There will be no animals on our farm till the regional vet officer says so, which will be two years at least. So what do we do?

It affects all our local businesses. I did a quick rundown for Harvey. I thought, 'Who's going to be affected by this in my patch?' Harvey Fresh, which produces milk and dairy products, Harvey Water, where we get our irrigation, and LP & JA Fryer, which we get all our services from. There'll be no income. We saw the massive effect of deregulation in our patch. There will be no animals into or out of Harvey Beef. They won't be exporting as they do now. Milne Feeds, who supply the feed; the grain and feed merchants; the livestock agent; the livestock transporters—all of those will be affected, just in my patch alone. In WA, Mark Talbot said at that very meeting that his business would stop dead. He's been begging the state government for more washdown facilities.

How much food and produce is going to be on the shelves will depend on how many animals are affected. It does last a bit longer in moist soils. Yes, we'll do everything we can to minimise the outbreak. But I'll tell you what worries me as well: the feral animals. If it gets in, how the heck will we ever get rid of it? That is a very deep concern for us on our farms. Every farmer is desperately concerned about this. So I would say to the government: what you've done so far—get into Indonesia. Do even more in Indonesia. Do what you can do to stop it there, and let's stop this getting in. Everybody needs to do the right thing.

Brian Mitchell (Lyons, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Before I get to the meat of my written speech, I want to address a few issues. The member for Wannon, in an absolutely unhinged contribution, asked: 'Why isn't all luggage being screened? Why isn't all food being banned?' He claimed that farmers wants the borders closed. I looked online, and there's a small group of farmers in his electorate who do want the borders closed, but I'll tell you who doesn't want the borders closed. The National Farmers Federation, the Australian Livestock Exporters Council, the Australian Meat Industry Council, the Cattle Council of Australia and Sheep Producers Australia all oppose closing the border. If the member for Wannon is going to come into this chamber and claim that farmers want the border closed, he needs to go and have a talk to these groups, which represent the vast majority of livestock interests in this country.

The member for Forrest, in a thoughtful contribution, mentioned the impacts that FMD might have on a farm such as hers. Nobody argues with that. We know, in the government, that FMD is a very serious and significant issue that we are dealing with. But I've got to say this: before this outbreak in Indonesia, there was a nine per cent chance of FMD coming to Australia; it's gone up to 11 per cent. Nobody disputes that the risk has gone up. But all those risks to dairying and cattle that the member for Forrest was talking about existed before this outbreak, and there was still a nine per cent chance of it happening then.

So, it's really important that we turn off the panic switch. And it's not just me saying that. New South Wales Farmers Biosecurity Chair Ian McColl is quoted as saying that politicians are 'fanning the flames of fear'. He said:

Farmers have argued for stronger, sustainably-funded biosecurity systems for years—this isn't something that's just happened overnight.

He made the point that FMD is of course endemic throughout Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, and it has been for years. He went on to say:

Those people out there who suggested we need to slam shut travel to Indonesia don't understand that would only give a false sense of security, which could actually increase the risk of FMD coming from elsewhere.

And:

It's up to all of us to do the right thing and stop spreading fear and rumour.

I implore those opposite who represent the regions, who represent farming interests, to put your farmers first, put your regions first and stop fanning the flames of fear. Stop spreading fear on this issue. The government is taking this issue very seriously. It's put in some of the strongest biosecurity measures seen in this country's history. It's working with Indonesian authorities to limit the spread to make sure that it doesn't come onto our shores. It's implemented the foot pads. It's implemented tighter screening. The Australian government stands shoulder to shoulder with the regions and with the farming interests in this country to keep FMD out of Australia.

Any suggestion by those opposite that the Australian government is not doing everything reasonable and proper on this issue is just fearmongering; that's exactly what it is. And it's not just me saying that. That's New South Wales Farmers, saying to those opposite, 'Stop fanning the flames of fear.' It might be in your political interests to try and generate a headline, to try and get your faces in the paper. But it's not in the national interest for you to do that. You're affecting our overseas markets with your behaviour.

Foot-and-mouth disease is absolutely one of the most concerning and dangerous diseases facing Australia's agricultural industry. It can devastate agricultural sectors. In recent months it has spread throughout Indonesia, including Bali. That's why the government is taking it very seriously, with the tighter measures that we have implemented. People across my electorate are understandably concerned, but the farmers in my electorate are also mature, and they have a strong streak of common sense. They know that the government is taking the threat seriously and that panic does not help anyone.

The gross farmgate value of agricultural production in Tasmania exceeded $2 billion for the first time in 2021, due in no small part to the irrigation schemes the former Labor state government initiated. And Labor is determined to protect Tasmania's agricultural sector. The Albanese Labor government is determined to keep foot-and-mouth disease out of Australia, and I thank the Minister for Agriculture, Senator Murray Watt, for his tireless efforts, which will no doubt continue.

Rick Wilson (O'Connor, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Trade) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I've listened with interest to the contributions to this debate on foot-and-mouth disease from both sides, and I think there is great deal of goodwill here. While there have been some political statements, I don't think there needs to be, because this is an issue we can deal with based on the facts. I've certainly worked very hard in the last few weeks to get across the facts and understand exactly what the issues are.

Tuesday a fortnight ago, the Great Southern Zone of the WA Farmers Federation called a meeting of members and interested parties in the town of Mount Barker at very short notice. I had a commitment in Esperance that morning, 470 kilometres away, but I thought I'd better get to this meeting, because obviously this topic is something that's of great importance to my constituents. Those of you who've been to meetings of farm groups will know that usually you're lucky if 10 diehards turn up. So I was quite stunned when I arrived at the meeting. There were 150 people, which was the maximum that they could fit into the Plantagenet Sporting Club's Sounness Park Recreation Facility. There were another 591 people who had joined that meeting via live stream. So that is the level of interest and concern among my constituents.

The WA Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development gave a very concise and pertinent update to the people at that meeting, and they explained the AUSVETPLAN. My good friend the member for Paterson was wrong to say there was no plan. The AUSVETPLAN has been in place since 2014. Both departmental vets and commercial vets, including vets across my electorate, have travelled to places like Nepal, where they've dealt with foot-and-mouth disease in the flesh, so to speak, and gained experience. So there is a very comprehensive plan that will kick into place upon an incursion into this country.

The impact of that incursion—just to touch on some of the issues that have already been mentioned—would be an immediate three-day freeze on movement of animals, meat, milk and other livestock products. That's small bickies compared to the ongoing impact of the loss of trade access. As has already been mentioned here, the federal Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry in their briefing—and thank you to Minister Watt for the briefing that he provided to all members last week—indicated that the best-case scenario for regaining that trade access after a small incursion that was jumped on and controlled immediately would be at least several years. For a country that exports 70 per cent of its livestock products—and Western Australia exports 90 per cent of its livestock products— the damage that that would do to my communities and my industries is beyond my comprehension. In Great Britain in 2001, the incursion reached 56 properties. There were six million livestock destroyed, and today, 20 years later, their industry is only back to 70 per cent of what it was in 2001. This is the sort of impact we're talking about on the communities across my electorate.

I cannot speak on this issue without drawing the attention of the Chamber and the House to the comments of the Western Australian Minister for Agriculture and Food. The Western Australian Minister for Agriculture and Food, when she was questioned on this issue—and I'm quoting directly from the West Australian newspaper here—said the disease 'would "not be catastrophic" and could even lead to cheaper meat and milk'. I'm not going to say any more about that other than that today we had a passenger at the Darwin airport who was intercepted with a sausage-and-egg McMuffin and a ham-and-cheese croissant in their baggage. That customer had filled out a declaration form stating that they had no food products in their luggage. I can only assume that that passenger may well have seen the media on the comments of the Western Australian minister that this is no big deal and, in fact, you might even get a bit of cheap meat. Well, I say to the Western Australian Minister for Agriculture and Food: yes, you might get a bit of cheap meat while livestock are being destroyed and farmers are going out of business, but it won't last very long, because we won't have a domestic livestock industry if we lose that 90 per cent export market. She should be thoroughly ashamed of herself, and everybody around the country who has heard those comments, except Labor politicians, has called for her resignation. I urge her to do the honourable thing and stand aside and let someone that the farmers of WA have confidence in take that position.

Bob Katter (Kennedy, Katter's Australian Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I was in a party called the National Party for 23 years. I had the same recognition rate in Queensland as the Prime Minister, Bob Hawke, and I was the standard-bearer for that party. When I came into this place, I got lectures from a bloke who was very tall and wore a hat. I'm not going to talk about the dead, but he said, 'We will have free markets and we will be the food bowl of Asia, because we have a clean, green image.' I quote: 'clean, green image'. He then opened the door, under his free market ideology, to every single product known to man.

We said: 'Please don't let the prawns in. If you allow prawns we will get white spot.' White spot is now in our country, costing us hundreds of millions of dollars a year. Tobacco was allowed in. Grapes were allowed in, and you know the California grapes contain the glassy-winged sharpshooter—only the Americans could think of a name like that, but it's a terrible disease. The pork was let in. The peanuts were let in. Everything was let in. How can you possibly promote yourself with a clean, green image when you allow everything in? Of course every disease will come in.

In the electorate of Kennedy, we have been very much on the receiving end of these diseases. We've got Panama disease, which has closed very large sections of the banana industry in Australia. I represent almost every banana in Australia. We all know how citrus canker hit the citrus industry. Again, we pleaded with them not to bring the stuff in. The then leader of my party—not the gentleman with the hat; another gentleman, the leader of the party—gave special permission for citrus product and shoots to come in from South-East Asia, from a country that was known to have citrus canker, and, of course, there was a very generous donation given to what was then my party. Black sigatoka, papaya fruit fly—I could go on and on and on, but let me address the issue of the trade with Indonesia.

Julia Gillard, then Prime Minister of Australia—I'm not denigrating her, because I don't think she understood what she was doing, and Four Corners has a lot to answer for here—banned the live export of meat into Indonesia. They have been excellent neighbours to us. Every country has neighbours, but they have been truly excellent neighbours. Compare them to Canada and Mexico with the United States. They have been excellent neighbours to us. Quite rightly, two weeks later, the former Prime Minister realised her mistake and reversed the decision, but you don't start telling the fifth-biggest country on Earth, 'We're going to turn the trade off, and now you can turn it back on again.' That doesn't happen.

They quite rightly banned the export of livestock into Indonesia, and that went on for nearly two years. It was one of the reasons why I took a stand and had some persuasive influence on Kevin Rudd being returned. I want to say, in great praise of Kevin Rudd—who, it seems to me, is maligned by both sides of the House—that within nine days of being restored to the prime ministership, he was in Indonesia. Within 13 days the market was reopened, and within two months the price of cattle had doubled. To the day I die, I'll be very proud of having played a small role in putting that person in where we could get that problem solved.

On this issue, I rang Sam Daniels, one of the bigger cattle owners in Australia; Mark Harvey-Sutton, a pivotal leader in the industry, who comes from my hometown; Garth Power, another very prominent cattleman in mid-west North Queensland; Russell Lethbridge, highly representative on many bodies; and Sheep McCarthy, the current president of Australian farmers for North Queensland, and arguably northern Australia. I spoke to these people, and I'll single out Sam Daniels, who said, 'We need to send 32.6 million over to Indonesia straight away.' It is not a huge problem for them. It's something that needs to be done— (Time expired)

Ross Vasta (Bonner, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The time allotted for this debate has expired. The debate is adjourned and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting.