Key Points
- Viral fragments of Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) and African swine fever have been detected in pork products.
- Australia remains free of the diseases as the live virus was not detected.
Australia will not slam shut its border to arrivals from Indonesia amid an outbreak of foot and mouth disease, Agriculture Minister Murray Watt says.
Opposition MPs Barnaby Joyce and Karen Andrews have called on the government to close the border to its northern neighbour.
But the proposed measure has been decried as "drastic" by farming bodies.
Senator Watt slammed the Coalition for "playing politics" with the industry, and said a border closure or banned flights were options the current opposition never implemented while in government.
"We've acted as quickly as we possibly can," he told Sky News.
"As soon as this outbreak got to Bali, I directed my department to start working urgently."
Senator Watt said there was a "well-established plan" to deal with an outbreak in Australia, but he was confident the disease could be kept out.
"We have some of the world's best biosecurity systems," he said.
"We have no plans to close the borders either in Indonesia or to any of the other many countries that have foot and mouth disease."
While the nation remains free of the livestock disease, it has been detected in tourist hotspot Bali.
Ms Andrews said the government must do whatever it takes to guarantee foot and mouth does not enter the nation.
"Labor needs to be doing much more than it already is to prevent that disease coming into Australia," she told Sky News on Thursday.
But closing the borders would be a "very drastic step", Victorian Farmers Federation president Emma Germano told AAP.
"We rely on this bilateral trade between the two countries. I don't know how you would justify doing that to Indonesia when foot and mouth is endemic in other countries," she said.
"There would be an economic impact and we want to ensure we keep trade open.
"It's vital Australians understand what's at stake, and the need to be hyper-vigilant about what food products they bring back."
An immediate three-day standstill on livestock movements would be implemented if the disease were to reach Australia, Senator Watt said.
A compensation scheme for farmers would also be put in place.
Foot and mouth disease detected in meat products in Australia
Senator Watt on Wednesday announced further biosecurity measures after viral fragments of foot and mouth disease and African swine fever were detected in pork products at a Melbourne retailer.
An undeclared beef product was also recently seized from a traveller at an Australian airport and later tested positive for disease fragments.
The products, believed to be imported from China, were detected in the Melbourne CBD as part of routine surveillance and have been seized. It's the first time viral fragments have been detected in a retail setting, Senator Watt said.
"This is not the first time in Australian history that we have picked up Foot and Mouth Disease viral fragments in meat products - it's happened a number of other times in airport settings," he told reporters in Brisbane.
Further investigations about how the products entered Australia was being taken, and it was likely prosecutions would occur, Senator Watt said.
Preventive measures
Senator Watt is urging travellers to take responsibility, clean their shoes and declare all meat products when arriving in Australia.
"If you do the wrong thing, you will be caught. If you try to bring products into the country without declaring them you will be caught," he said. "If you try to bring or post products into the country, you will be caught and we will take action."
Sanitation mats will be rolled out at international airports in an effort to stop FMD from entering Australia on traveller's shoes.
It's the latest measure by the federal government to prevent an outbreak of the livestock disease on Australian shores.
'No silver bullet when it comes to biosecurity'
Indonesia has been grappling with the spread of the disease, which was recently detected in Bali, a popular holiday destination for Australian travellers.
If allowed to spread in Australia, the disease is predicted to cause an $80 billion hit to the economy over ten years. Senator Watt said the mats would add another layer of defence against an outbreak.
"There's no silver bullet when it comes to biosecurity; none of these measures will work on their own," he said.
Australia will roll out new biosecurity controls to stop foot and mouth spreading from Indonesia. Source: AAP / EPA
The mats will be rolled out this week, starting at Darwin and Cairns airports. They are intended to be a physical reminder to travellers about the risk of the disease, Senator Watt said.
How do the mats work?
Travellers arriving in Australia from Indonesia will be asked to walk across the mats to sanitise their shoes. The mats contain a citric acid solution designed to dislodge any dirt from the sole of the shoe and cover it in the acid.
Other biosecurity measures include passenger declarations, profiling of all travellers entering from Indonesia, real-time risk assessments, questioning and shoe cleaning.
A $14 million biosecurity package was announced by the government last week for more frontline defences in airports and mail centres as well as support for Indonesia and neighbouring countries to combat the spread.
Mandatory electronic identification system for livestock
Meanwhile, the development of a national, mandatory sheep and goat electronic identification system was agreed to by state and territory agriculture ministers at a meeting on Wednesday.
It would allow livestock to be individually traced in the event of an outbreak.
While some jurisdictions had initially resisted the idea, Senator Watt said he was pleased to be able to reach an agreement.
How the tagging system will be funded and rolled out still needs to be decided, the minister said.
