Flights from Bali should be ‘suspended’ to prevent spread of foot-and-mouth disease: Senator

A Queensland senator has made an extreme call to suspend all flights between Australia and Bali in a bid to prevent a foot-and-mouth livestock disease outbreak of “biblical proportions”. HAVE YOUR SAY IN OUR POLL

Flights between Australia and Bali should be “suspended” to prevent a foot-and-mouth livestock disease outbreak of “biblical proportions”.

The outbreak in the tourist hotspot of Bali has caused significant alarm across the agriculture industry, with departmental estimates billions would be wiped from the economy if foot-and-mouth spread to Australia.

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More than a million Australians travel to and from Bali a year prior to the pandemic, prompting Opposition Northern Australia spokeswoman Susan McDonald to suggest “suspending Bali flights should be investigated”.

“We saw a swift closing of borders with Covid, and I believe similar measures should be discussed for foot-and-mouth, and if not flight suspensions, then quarantine for returning passengers,” she said.

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“Some people will say this is an over-reaction and will adversely affect the Indonesian economy, but the devastation of a foot-and-mouth outbreak in Australia would be widespread to not just producers but consumers and taxpayers as well.

“It is truly difficult to comprehend how bad this would be which is why it is critical that we do not allow FMD into Australia.”

The disease infects cloven-hoofed animals and people can carry it on their shoes, clothes or in their noses – where it can survive for up to 24 hours.

Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) modelling has previously projected a widespread FMD outbreak in Australia would have an estimated direct economic impact of about $80 billion.

This picture taken on June 24, 2022 shows a veterinarian inspecting cattle for foot-and-mouth disease in Bandar Lampung, Lampung province. (Photo by PERDIANSYAH / AFP)

“This is beyond politics, this is about doing absolutely everything possible to protect a crucial industry that feeds us and the world,” Senator McDonald said.

“Grazing families would be forced off the land and we would all be paying exorbitant prices for substandard imported meat in our supermarkets and butchers.

“After talking to meat industry figures and hearing how worried they are, I believe the Federal Government should immediately canvas suspending Bali flights and consider sending biosecurity and veterinary staff to Bali to administer vaccines, help the Indonesian authorities address the outbreak and ensure the disease does not enter Australia.”

Agriculture Minister Murray Watt is currently in Jakarta on a ministerial mission focused on supporting the containment of FMD.

“The Albanese Government is taking strong action on FMD at home and abroad. This two-pronged approach is about strengthening our biosecurity defences at home, and supporting Indonesia to manage and contain the outbreak there,” he said on Tuesday, prior to leaving for Indonesia.

In greater Indonesia, it’s estimated that more than 336,000 animals have been affected, with cases reported in 21 provinces, including Java and Sumatra.

It is believed FMD spread into Indonesia via goats smuggled in from Malaysia but there are not currently concerns about travellers bringing in the disease from other countries.