Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to again explain to the chamber the strong measures being undertaken by the Albanese government in response to the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in Indonesia. I welcome this opportunity to again inform the chamber about the range of strong measures the government is taking in response to this risk. As I've previously said, this is a serious situation that we now face in relation to not just foot-and-mouth disease but also lumpy skin disease, which has seen an outbreak in Indonesia as well. Accordingly, the government is treating this matter seriously.

As I've previously said, expert judgement has indicated that Australia faces an 11.6 per cent risk of a foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in the next five years, with a higher risk, 28 per cent, of a lumpy skin disease outbreak. It is worth noting that these are not new risks. The last risk assessment conducted for foot-and-mouth disease, in March 2021, indicated that we already had a nine per cent risk of an outbreak here—not surprising when you consider that there are about 70 active foot-and-mouth disease outbreaks around the world at the moment.

With respect to the first component of Senator Roberts's motion—and as I previously conveyed to the chamber on Thursday 28 July—I am advised as follows: the exact number of doses for foot-and-mouth disease held in the vaccine bank is considered confidential information in the interest of national security, including to protect against bioterrorism threats. We hold enough vaccine doses in the vaccine bank to cover at least the first four months of a disease response, which gives us enough time to then order more vaccines. The vaccine manufacturer prioritises the production of vaccines for countries that are experiencing a disease outbreak, as you would expect. The Australian government has provided $1.5 million for Indonesia to purchase one million doses of foot-and-mouth disease vaccine. These are expected to arrive in Indonesia in the near future. While I accept that this may not be the answer Senator Roberts wants to hear, this information remains accurate, as it was when I provided it to the chamber last week.

With respect to the second aspect of this motion, I have listened, and will continue to listen, to the advice of experts, including Australia's Chief Veterinary Officer, regarding the government's response to foot-and-mouth disease, including with respect to vaccines. I note that the shadow minister, David Littleproud, said exactly the same thing when he was the minister for agriculture. When the outbreak first reached Indonesia, Mr Littleproud informed the public that he would listen to the advice of Australia's Chief Veterinary Officer. Sadly, it seems he abandoned that view when he went into opposition.

Should an outbreak occur in Australia, time will be needed to determine the extent of the outbreak and logistics for vaccination, if it is indeed agreed to vaccinate. I am advised that, for some outbreak scenarios, vaccination may not be used, and regaining disease-free status may be quicker without vaccination. These are complex issues, and I am being advised by the world's leading experts on the most appropriate approach. I am advised that the choice of vaccine is dependent on the strain of foot-and-mouth disease virus. For example, should we hold a prepared vaccine which was effective against the strain of virus in Indonesia, and a different strain of virus occurred in Australia, any prepared stocks may not be suitable. This is exactly why the vaccine bank contains a number of antigens which are effective against different strains of the foot-and-mouth disease virus. We do not want to repeat the mistakes of the previous government. The most effective use of vaccines at the moment is in assisting our Indonesian neighbours in managing their outbreak. While Senator Roberts may not like these facts, these are the facts.

With respect to the final aspect of the motion, in direct response to the emergence and spread of foot-and-mouth disease in Indonesia, the Albanese government has strengthened biosecurity measures to protect Australia from a foot-and-mouth disease incursion. These include: for the first time ever, deployment of sanitation foot mats across all international airports in Australia for passengers returning from Indonesia; for the first time ever, declaration of biosecurity response zones in international airports in Australia which empower biosecurity officers with stronger powers than they've had before; biosecurity profiling of 100 per cent of travellers, including extra assessment for passengers who have recently been in Indonesia; 100 per cent screening of all mail items coming from Indonesia; redeploying biosecurity detector dogs to priority ports, like Cairns and Darwin; and one million vaccines to Indonesia.

It's worth mentioning—because this has been misreported before—that the redeployment of those biosecurity detector dogs to Cairns and Darwin does not mean that we don't have detector dogs in other airports; we do. Those airports were judged as requiring supplementary detector dogs. That's why the dogs have been relocated, and, as some people may have seen in the media this week, they're already doing a terrific job. Again, while I accept that these facts may not be what Senator Roberts wants to hear, these are the facts, and I'm not in the business of changing facts. I'll leave it for others to decide whether they want to do that.

The government takes the threat of foot-and-mouth disease extremely seriously. That's why we've taken unprecedented actions to protect Australia's biosecurity. We will continue to listen to evidence and the advice of experts, including the director of biosecurity and the Chief Veterinary Officer, to inform our evolving response.

Having dealt with the motion, I might just add a couple of other things by way of update. As I have said repeatedly, the response that the Albanese government has put in place to this outbreak is the strongest biosecurity response Australia has ever seen to a biosecurity threat. It is stronger than anything the former government put in place, despite the outbreak reaching Indonesia while they were still in power. No sanitation foot mats were placed in airports by the former government, despite the outbreak reaching Indonesia. No sanitation foot mats were even ordered by the former government, despite the outbreak reaching Indonesia. The former government did not declare biosecurity response zones in international airports at any point over the last seven years, despite them having had the power to do so for seven years and despite the fact that we've seen 70 active foot-and-mouth disease outbreaks. That is followed by the range of other measures that this government has put in place, which the former government did not choose to do, despite its having the power to do so.

It is disappointing that One Nation and coalition senators continue to play politics with this issue, despite the repeated pleas from industry for them to drop their political activities and their politicisation of this matter. As I mentioned to the chamber last week, a number of industry leaders have come out publicly on this. Patrick Hutchinson from the Australian Meat Industry Council has said that Australia should 'absolutely not shut the border' to Indonesia:

The continual politicisation of biosecurity in the media is unhelpful.

Jason Strong from Meat and Livestock Australia said foot-and-mouth disease is 'one of those things you can make sound really bad' and that some of the recent commentary has been ' unnecessarily alarmist'. Ian McColl, the NSW Farmers Biosecurity Chair, said:

I see some people out there using this outbreak as a weapon to further their own ends, and frankly it's pretty disappointing. Farmers have argued for stronger, sustainably-funded biosecurity systems for years—this isn't something that's just happened overnight.

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Those people out there 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.

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Fanning the flames of fear will not help one little bit.

I would encourage subsequent speakers on this motion to reflect on those comments from some of our most significant livestock industry leaders. That's before we get to the comments that numerous farm and meat industry leaders have made supporting the government's response. Jason Strong from Meat and Livestock Australia said the federal government's response to date has been 'very coordinated and collaborative'. Patrick Hutchinson said:

AMIC is very supportive of the Australian government's measured response and believes such a response is necessary in order to maintain strong relations with Indonesia, who need to manage this outbreak with our assistance, not our intervention.

Fiona Simson, President of the National Farmers Federation, said, 'The NFF is working with the agriculture minister, Murray Watt, and the Australian government to make sure that we can do whatever it takes, whether it is in Indonesia or here in Australia, to make sure that we can stop the spread of this terrible disease.'

As I said, the politicisation of this matter is already damaging our international trade reputation. Senator McKenzie, among others, knows that because she, among others, has received the same calls I've had from industry leaders. But, unlike Senator McKenzie, I am listening to those industry leaders. It is ironic, and it's very telling, that Senator McKenzie and her colleagues only began to be interested in this issue after they lost the election. As I pointed out yesterday—