Barnaby Joyce has scrutinised the Albanese government’s handling of foot and mouth disease, claiming not enough is being done to protect Australia’s $80 billion livestock industry.
The devastating disease was detected in Australia on Wednesday, with the government announcing initiatives to avoid its spread.
“This is the most incompetent government putting at risk one of the greatest assets of our nation,” Joyce, the Member for New England, said.
“We are seeing this incredible risk, and it’s just like, where is Mr Albanese?”
Australia introduced mandatory screening for the disease in arrivals from Indonesia following the outbreak of the disease in Bali and other areas of the country, and already had strict biosecurity protocols on meat products to prevent an outbreak of the disease.
But Joyce questioned whether the government had acted swiftly or efficiently enough to combat the recent transmission of foot and mouth disease.
“Did you check their shoes?” he said.
“Did you go through their bags?”
Joyce’s outburst followed Agriculture Minister Murray Watt’s announcement that an undeclared beef product detected at an Australian airport had been found to contain viral fragments of the disease.
Watt also said pork products imported from China were found to contain the disease, along with African swine flu.
Joyce called for a ban on travel to high-risk countries, and extreme measures to shoes and clothes.
“No shoes can come back from overseas, just drop them in a bin. Any clothes that have touched the ground can’t come in,” he said.
Biosecurity officials discovered a passenger travelling from Indonesia to Australia obtained a product which tested positive for viral fragments of the disease.
Watt says the fragments do not pose a threat to human health and that Australia remains free from foot and mouth disease.
“We have always said that animal product imports are actually the biggest risk of FMD entering our country,” he said.
“There is a risk that it can be brought back in by a traveller on their shoes, but the advice I’ve received is that the biggest risk is actually the importation of animal products.”
More than 128,000 Australian passport holders travelled to Bali in June, the Australian Border Force confirmed to 9news.com.au.
Beyond farmers, truck drivers and industries intrinsically linked to the sector would feel the effects of a transportation lockdown.
The biggest economic implication of a severe outbreak would be producers losing access to global export markets, potentially for years, until the disease was contained and eradicated.
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