Anthony Albanese must address the foot-and-mouth challenge

There are sound economic as well as diplomatic reasons Australia must think deeply before closing our borders to our near neighbour and good friend Indonesia to stop the potential spread of foot-and-mouth disease. This said, the stakes could not be higher for the nation’s farmers and consumers should an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease be allowed to reach our shores. The urgent priority must be to make sure biosecurity measures are in place and to let all visitors and returning holiday-makers, wherever they are from, know what their responsibilities are. Authorities must have all the powers they need to take whatever action is required.

The federal opposition is right to question, as it has done, whether enough action has been taken in response to the foot-and-mouth outbreak in Bali. It is up to the government to detail what it is doing and to justify that the speed of its response has been up to the seriousness of the task. It is also reasonable to expect that foot-and-mouth will be a priority for the government from the Prime Minister down, just as the Indonesian President has taken personal control of the issue in his country. It is comforting to know Agriculture Minister Murray Watt has visited Indonesia and met government and biosecurity officials there to assess the situation first-hand. In a spirit of co-operation and friendship Australia must do everything it can to assist Indonesia as it works to contain the foot-and-mouth outbreak. Indonesia, in return, must do all that is asked of it to help Australia protect its own farmers, not least to ensure that supplies of farm products continue to be available for import to Indonesia to replace what is lost from its domestic herd. Assistance could extend to allowing Australian biosecurity officials to screen travellers in Indonesian airports before they make their way to Australia.

Pressure over the foot-and-mouth outbreak has been building for several weeks. Senator Watt insists that behind the scenes everything possible is being done. On Friday biosecurity officers were given increased powers to direct passengers arriving from at-risk areas. But the government so far has resisted calls to ban travel as impractical. Senator Watt said while the focus was now on Indonesia, foot-and-mouth was a risk in many other countries including China, Vietnam, Malaysia, India and South Africa.

Nationals leader David Littleproud has been critical of Senator Watt but says he supports leaving borders open to avert damaging our trade relationship. There are good reasons to tread carefully given the need to maintain good relations across numerous fronts. These include defence, security and trade. Anthony Albanese made sure Jakarta was the first country he visited outside already scheduled meetings such as the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue in Japan and the NATO meeting in Europe. As host of the upcoming G20 summit, Indonesia is extremely sensitive to safeguarding its international reputation at this time. Ultimately, it is Australian farmers and the community that Mr Albanese and Senator Watt must consider when making decisions. Foot-and-mouth disease represents one of the greatest threats possible for Australia’s livestock industry. Faced with an outbreak to our north in a region that is heavily visited by Australian tourists who return each day in their hundreds, the risk is particularly high.

We must do everything possible to stop the virus coming and make sure that, should it do so, farmers and communities are well prepared to stop it from spreading. We must continue to work directly with our Indonesian friends and be sensitive to their needs. But we must always be prepared to take whatever action is necessary to protect our domestic interests.