‘Be bloody careful’: Bega boss Barry Irvin’s call to Bali tourists to combat foot and mouth disease

Australia’s reputation as a clean and green food producer is at risk after an outbreak of foot and mouth disease in Indonesia cattle.

As thousands of Australians fly to Bali each day for a long-awaited holiday, Bega Cheese executive chairman Barry Irvin has coined a new tourism slogan.

Instead of “where the bloody hell are you” – the centrepiece of Tourism Australia’s $180m campaign from 2006 – Mr Irvin wants returning travellers to hear “be bloody careful”.

While the world has become a more dangerous place in recent years – with an increasingly hostile China, and Russia invading Ukraine – spare a thought for 27.6 million head of cattle and 1.6 million dairy cows.

Agriculture experts fear that foot and mouth and lumpy skin disease could spread from Indonesia to Australia, potentially crippling Australia’s $80bn livestock injury and sending the price of beef soaring.

But Mr Irvin, who heads the $986m ASX-listed dairy company, believes the costs to Australia’s reputation as a clean and green producer of agriculture products could be much more. He said while the federal government has launched a $14m biosecurity blitz to fight the disease, returning travellers have a big role to play.

At the bottom of the first page of the cream-coloured incoming passenger card handed out on flights, is a question that if answered correctly could help protect Australian cattle. “Have you been in contact with farms, farm animals, wilderness areas … in the past 30 days?”

A man inspecting cattle in Bandar Lampung, Lampung province, amid an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease. Picture: AFP

“If in doubt, check it and have a chat with the relevant customs officer,” Mr Irvin said. “It’s just so important that they do that. This (a foot and mouth disease outbreak in Australia) would affect the entire community.”

While farming communities would face horrendous scenes of millions of cows being killed, burned and buried in large pits, those in urban areas would face sharp price rises for steak and other cuts of beef.

But it’s not just beef, with the dairy industry also potentially facing an economic wrecking ball at a time when farm gate milk prices have soared 30 per cent in the past month.

“Whenever people ask me what the greatest risk to the business is, I always say biosecurity,” Mr Irvin said. “We are an exporting nation and rely on the confidence of our customers, so it’s an important way of thinking around food business in Australia.

“We like our food produced in a very safe environment where the animals are well looked after, they aren’t subject to disease or discomfort … that’s the way people want to feel when they’re eating a steak or block of cheese.

“And again, when they think about what they are bringing back when they are travelling, just be bloody careful.”

A spokesman for Australia’s biggest cattle producer, ASX-listed AACo, said the company “trusted” the government to “keep the pressure on” in keeping Australia free of foot and mouth disease.

“It was pleasing to see Agriculture Minister Murray Watt in Indonesia. It’s something we are monitoring closely with their help, as well as looking at how we best manage any potential risks on our stations,” the AACo spokesman said.

Senator Watt said the government would spend $14m to ward off the diseases, which have reached Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and East Timor. He also said $5m of the funding would be given to those countries to strengthen their biosecurity.

“We need the travelling public to take this seriously,” Senator Watt said. “If foot and mouth disease gets into our country, it will be a devastating blow for our agriculture industry, particularly our livestock industry.”

Originally published as ‘Be bloody careful’: Bega boss Barry Irvin’s call to Bali tourists to combat foot and mouth disease