Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It's been a while since I've had the opportunity to ask a question! My question is to the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Senator Watt. I refer to the minister's 15 July announcement of additional technical expertise and support to Indonesia, Timor-Leste and Papua New Guinea. I ask the minister: have biosecurity offices, departmental officials and non-departmental veterinarians been deployed to Indonesia? And, if so, in which provinces? Have vaccines now been provided to Indonesia?

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

I thank the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate for granting me the great honour of receiving the first question on behalf of the incoming Albanese government. And I thank him for asking this question, because it is a very serious issue.

As I have repeatedly stated, both publicly in the media and in the briefing that I just provided to all MPs, including opposition MPs, about this very serious threat, this is something that the Albanese government is taking seriously. It's worth noting that this outbreak reached Indonesia prior to the election, when the former government was in government, and we, of course, have now become responsible for supporting our friends in Indonesia to manage their outbreak, especially since that outbreak reached Bali.

Senator Birmingham has referred to announcements that I made on behalf of the government as to assistance that we are providing our friends in Indonesia. That assistance includes one million vaccines for foot-and-mouth disease along with a range of technical assistance, such as assistance in rolling out the vaccines, in improving laboratory testing capacity and a range of other measures that the Indonesian government has advised us would be of assistance to them.

We, as I have previously made public, expect the vaccines to be delivered to Indonesia in August. They have been ordered. We expect them to arrive in August, as previously announced. The offer has, as I say, been made to provide technical assistance. I'm aware that one of our biosecurity experts has already been liaising with Indonesian authorities and that assistance will continue to be rolled out in partnership with the Indonesian government.

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Birmingham, first supplementary?

Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I note the minister has confirmed the government's intention to provide one million vaccinations to Indonesia but has intimated they will not be provided until August. I ask the minister again: have biosecurity officers, departmental officials and non-departmental veterinarians been deployed Indonesia? And, if so, in which provinces?

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

I am aware that not any veterinarian but our country's Chief Veterinary Officer, Dr Mark Schipp, has personally been in Indonesia, cooperating with the Indonesian government and their veterinary authorities to offer assistance, and that is ahead of the deployment of additional expertise. As some members opposite might know, when in government, when liaising with other governments, it's probably a good idea to do that in partnership with those governments and to work with them in a manner that works on the ground. So, the chief vet was with me during my recent trip to Indonesia where I met with the Indonesian Minister of Agriculture along with the head of the Disaster Management Authority, and I expect that the extra assistance that we have offered will be deployed as quickly as it possibly can be in partnership with Indonesia.

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Birmingham, a second supplementary?

Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I note that none of the promised vaccinations have been provided to Indonesia yet and none of the promised veterinarians or other support officials have been deployed to Indonesia yet. I ask the minister in relation to the aspect of his announcement for additional frontline biosecurity and industry preparedness measures in Australia: how many of the 18 new biosecurity officers are currently operational and at which airports?

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

Before I directly answer Senator Birmingham's question, I want to pick up this point he keeps making about vaccines. As you may be aware, when the Prime Minister visited Indonesia shortly after the election he made an offer of vaccines to the Indonesian government. At that point in time, they decided, as is their sovereign right, that they would obtain those vaccines elsewhere for the time being and would begin a domestic production program around vaccines. We have of course since offered a million vaccines that have been accepted; they have been ordered. They will be provided to Indonesia in August. In terms of biosecurity officers, I will get you the exact number but my advice is that they have begun being rolled out into airports and mail centres now.

While I've got 10 seconds left, I do want to make the point that those biosecurity officers will not only be deployed into airports; they will be deployed into mail centres as well because the mail centres are the highest risk we have.

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Watt, I am clarifying that you've taken a portion of Senator Birmingham's question on notice.

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

Happy to do so.