Gina Rinehart plea on foot and mouth disease

Gina Rinehart says more money needs to be spent domestically and abroad on a ramped-up biosecurity response to the foot and mouth disease outbreak in Indonesia.

Senator Murray Watt is tested by Australian biosecurity staff while entering Sydney International Airport following a trip to Indonesia on July 15. Picture: Twitter

Gina Rinehart says more money needs to be spent domestically and abroad on a ramped-up biosecurity response to the Indonesian foot-and-mouth disease outbreak.

Australia’s richest person’s contribution to the debate over the federal government’s handling of the situation came as the opposition increased its calls for Australia to close its borders to Indonesia until it brought the spread of the virus under control.

Installation of sanitation foot mats at airports with Indonesian flights would be completed on Tuesday, the government said, butBorder Force officials are only individually screening the most high-risk passengers despite calls from farm lobby groups for 100 per cent screening.

Through her Hancock Agriculture and S. Kidman and Co enterprises, Ms Rinehart is one of Australia’s biggest beef producers, with cattle stations in Queensland, the Northern Territory and Western Australia.

She said the sanitation foot mats were needed in all countries where the disease is present.

“Money needs to be spent now, where it will actually reduce the problem, not in telling farmers not to worry,” she said. “All practical options need to be urgently considered as we do not want to regret too little action as it will be too late once the disease is in Australia.”

Agriculture Minister Murray Watt has pledged an extra $14m to combat the threat, including a million vaccines to be given to Indonesia and funding for more biosecurity officers.

The livestock industry has resisted calling for border closures, with the National Farmers Federation instead advocating for biosecurity screening of passengers arriving from Indonesia.

Hancock Agriculture and S. Kidman and Co CEO John McKillop said countries unable to contain the spread of foot-and-mouth disease might necessarily need to be cut off to travellers.

“We need to urgently work with our friends in countries already battling this disease, and also let them know, if they cannot contain the disease and immediately implement safeguards at their international airports and shipping terminals to ensure the disease does not enter Australia, Australia will be forced to protect its agricultural industry and restrict passengers from those countries, including returning Australians,” he said.

Mr McKillop, who is chairman of the Red Meat Advisory Council, backed the government’s response and said calls for an immediate travel ban with Indonesia were “misguided”. Australia had for decades successfully managed biosecurity risks of travellers from countries where FMD is endemic.

“Our bilateral relationship with Indonesia is critical to the long-term success of our sector and we simply ask that any decisions and dialogue on this topic are supported by evidence-based science and expert advice,” he said.

On Monday, Agriculture Minister Murray Watt told government MPs there was an 11.6 per cent chance the disease would enter Australia over the next five years and described the risk as “low but real”.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has called on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to elevate the FMD threat, which will be a major focus for the Coalition when Question Time resumes on Wednesday, to the national security committee of cabinet.

“I believe the borders should be closed, absent the information the government’s got,” Mr Dutton told 2GB. “If there’s an argument why the border shouldn’t be closed, that’s for the Prime Minister to make. If he’s got a reason, then let him explain it.”

Senator Watt said the foot mats were “not a silver bullet to keep FMD out of Australia” but provided another layer of protection.
“We have now increased our surveillance of mail from Indonesia and China so that every parcel is screened and so we can identify any potential biosecurity risks,” he said.

Foot mats were installed at international airports in Sydney, Melbourne, Darwin and Perth on Monday. Cairns, Brisbane and Adelaide start on Tuesday.