‘Sh*t in the street’: Pauline Hanson’s wild claim over government’s foot and mouth response

A task force has been set-up to prepare Australia for any outbreak of foot and mouth disease. It comes as a bizarre claim about Australian tourists in Bali raised eyebrows during a fiery political debate.

A task force designed to prepare Australia for an outbreak of the livestock industry destroying foot-and-mouth disease has been set up, with the federal government saying it wanted to prepare for the worse.

It comes as Agriculture Minister Murray Watt confirmed a global shortage of the FMD vaccine had delayed the delivery of a bulk of the 1m Australian-purchased jabs meant for Indonesia.

Earlier today Pauline Hanson sensationally claimed Australian tourists are coming home covered in sh*t from Balinese cows in a bizarre rant about the government’s foot and mouth response.

“Cattle roam the streets, cattle sh*t on the ground, people walk in that sh*t,” the One Nation senator told parliament.

“That sh*t is then brought back in their clothing and on their person and back into this country.”

Pauline Hanson made an inflammatory speech in the Senate. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

Nearly half of Australia’s cattle stocks are located in Queensland, with an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease set to cost the country $80bn over a decade according to departmental estimates.

Senator Watt on Thursday revealed the federal government would add a “third prong” to the nation’s defence against FMD, convening the “Exotic Animal Disease Preparedness Taskforce” for a four-week period.

The task force would include officials from a “range of government departments” including Defence, Border Force and Animal Health Australia.

“By bringing together the best expertise from across government, we can ensure that everyone understands their roles and responsibilities if there were to be an outbreak and that there are no gaps in our response,” Senator Watt said.

“If there were to be a major biosecurity outbreak in Australia, there is simply no time for delay. So I repeat, good government’s plan for the best and prepare for the worst, that’s what we’re doing here.”

Australia’s Chief Veterinarian has assessed the risk of an FMD incursion in Australia at 11.6 per cent over the next five years, while there is a 28 per cent risk of vector-borne Lumpy Skin Disease making its way to our shores.

In July, the government announced it would provide Indonesia with one million doses of FMD vaccine as part of $1.5m in assistance measures.

But Senator Watt confirmed about 400,000 doses of those had been delivered, pointing at global shortages of the vaccine and saying “the procurement process was well advanced”.

He said he expected the vaccine doses to hit the ground “very soon”, though a time frame was not stipulated.

“We’ve set up this task force for a four week period initially so that we can get urgent advice to make sure that we are fully ready,” Senator Watt said.

“I don’t want to take the risk that this outbreak could reach Australia without knowing that we have done everything we possibly can to be prepared.”

Senator Watt said there was no evidence to back up Senator Hanson’s claims.

The One Nation senator made the comments during a debate on whether a minister misled the Senate. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

Despite being warned by department officials last week to not politicise the matter, the Nationals, Liberals and One Nation this morning continued their crusade to nail Mr Watt.

They claim answers from the senator over sanitising foot mats at airports and vaccines were misleading.

The government’s response was last week referred to a parliamentary inquiry and senators were briefed by department officials about the outbreak in Indonesia.

Industry has dismissed calls from the Coalition and One Nation to close the border to Indonesia, arguing it could risk trade relations.

But Senator Hanson asserted it was just another cog in Labor’s plan to kill off cows to reduce emissions.

Murray Watt claimed he didn’t mislead the Senate. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

“They want to see cows and the beef cattle destroyed in this nation. They want to see emissions reduced, whichever way it comes about because it‘s going to make them look good,” she said.

Greens senator Peter Whish-Wilson slammed the opposition and One Nation for stoking fears for their own political advantage.

“It almost sounded like the opposition wanted some kind of foot and mouth outbreak so they can make political advantage out of it,” he told the Senate.

“I’m all for holding the government to account. The Senate is going to do that … We will look at this very closely but do not make this situation worse.”