Foot and Mouth petition

[bladeracer]

The Young Nationals have a petition running to try to get the government to do something to protect our entire farming industry.

https://www.change.org/p/introduce-more-biosecurity-measures-to-protect-australia-from-foot-and-mouth-disease
Dear Minister Murray Watt,

Given the recent outbreak of Foot-and-Mouth disease (FMD) in Indonesia and in particular Bali, Australian farmers are calling for more biosecurity measures to be introduced at Australian airports to protect Australia from this disease.

At a minimum we want to see:

Biosecurity detector dogs to be rolled out at all international airports
across Australia;
Screening and spraying of all check-in and carry-on luggage coming from Indonesia with a non-toxic
disinfectant spray; and
All shoes being brought in from Indonesia via carry-on and check-in luggage and being worn by travellers are to be confiscated and disposed of by incineration.
All shoes (children's and adult's) are to be removed, cleaned of any dry matter and disinfected by biosecurity staff with virkon prior to entry to Australia.
This needs to happen and happen fast. If FMD enters Australia, ABARES product it will cost $80 billion to the Australian economy, potentially causing a recession.

Any animals with hoofs within a certain radius of a positive case will have to be slaughtered and incinerated and yet we cannot kill the wild pigs and deer at present so it will be almost impossible to stop its spread.

Minister Watt, please introduce the above measures ASAP and protect Australia agriculture.

To see the impact of the FMD outbreak in England, please click here.
https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-35581830

[deye243]

Typical Australian politicians they did not learn a sing about Wuh flu .
They should close the border simple as that

[bladeracer]

Typical Australian politicians they did not learn a sing about Wuh flu .
They should close the border simple as that

Too right!
I don't see the average Bali visitor tossing his two-dollar thongs in the bin just to save the country.

[deye243]

It is more than that if those thongs went in the bag everything in the bag and the bag got to be burnt then there's walking on and off the plane even if the pilot or the air hostesses have not set foot in Bali They will Walk it off the plane

[cz515]

Typical Australian politicians they did not learn a sing about Wuh flu .
They should close the border simple as that

Come on that's a bit ridiculous action. Esp when it's probably here already. Why is it that some people think that's the solution to everything.

Most of the options sound good and idd support them blade, but training biosecurity dogs will take months.

[deye243]

Typical Australian politicians they did not learn a sing about Wuh flu .
They should close the border simple as that

Come on that's a bit ridiculous action. Esp when it's probably here already. Why is it that some people think that's the solution to everything.

Most of the options sound good and idd support them blade, but training biosecurity dogs will take months.

So whats wrong with closing the border with bali and stoping anyone trying to get aroung it by going through another country

[NTSOG]

G'day,

I hadn't considered that pigs and deer can contract FMD. Since, as stated above by bladeracer, these animals are free-ranging over vast areas I can't see how FMD could be stopped once it got a foothold in the country. [Farmers could lock up their farms, but ferals could still spread the disease.] The strictest quarantine regulations do need to be applied at the borders, but, given the numbers of people shown trying to bring food and other prohibited items through customs at airports on TV shows even though they know they are in breach, I have no faith that [returning] tourists will give a damn until they find that meat/animal products they want to buy for their own consumption are not available except for a very high price.

Jim

[Gamerancher]

Maybe do a proof read and spell check before you send that...

[bladeracer]

Maybe do a proof read and spell check before you send that...

Sorry, I see now that it does appear to be my own effort. I should've been clear that I'm sharing a petition started by somebody else. My cut missed the first line stating this is a petition by the Young Nationals. Anybody clicking the link to the petition will see that, but it was remiss of me to leave it out of my posting.

[bladeracer]

Rose understands these laws far better than I do. Her understanding is that if it reaches a "district" the government will simply order us to shoot and burn all of our animals. There is no option for us to make efforts to isolate our own properties from contamination.

G'day,

I hadn't considered that pigs and deer can contract FMD. Since, as stated above by bladeracer, these animals are free-ranging over vast areas I can't see how FMD could be stopped once it got a foothold in the country. [Farmers could lock up their farms, but ferals could still spread the disease.] The strictest quarantine regulations do need to be applied at the borders, but, given the numbers of people shown trying to bring food and other prohibited items through customs at airports on TV shows even though they know they are in breach, I have no faith that [returning] tourists will give a damn until they find that meat/animal products they want to buy for their own consumption are not available except for a very high price.

Jim

[Oldbloke]

Typical Australian politicians they did not learn a sing about Wuh flu .
They should close the border simple as that

Come on that's a bit ridiculous action. Esp when it's probably here already. Why is it that some people think that's the solution to everything.

Most of the options sound good and idd support them blade, but training biosecurity dogs will take months.

Yes, take months but perhaps a good medium term solution.

Gov should pull out all stops. If it gets into feral cloven hoof population it will be unstoppable and incredibly expensive to eradicate.

You just need to look at the piss poor systems to monitor the bee Varroa mite. Pathetic. It's now in the wild bee hives. Unstoppable. Will cost farmers and consumers many millions now in costly products due to poor crops.

A temporary closing of the intake of goods and passengers from infected areas/localities/countries should not be dismissed out of hand.

Lucky the LNP always looks after farmers, isn't it.

[cz515]

So whats wrong with closing the border with bali and stoping anyone trying to get aroung it by going through another country

Mate its been going on for month plus. The borders should have been fortified with measures like what blade posted at first sign. Now its probably here already. going back 2 years do you remember covid19, how effective were the border closure and quarantine work covid.

Our politicians but more importantly our public service (departments) are a joke, they have given up skilled experts for paper pushers, yes men/women who are to scared to make any decisions incase they upset the apple cart that nothing happens until it's too late, and people who are actual experts have already left the public service.

So let's say some genius decides that tonight from 12am the borders to Indonesia is going to shut and anyone who has been in Indonesia/bali in last 14 days cannot enter back..... who the donkey golf ballz going to pay for the accommodation mess of 30/40k people who are enjoying a holiday in bali right now. Or how about those who have booked and paid for holidays.

All the while, some other genius who will say just sanitising the shoes of people from Indonesia is enough.

[cz515]

The govt has no money so how are they going to subsidise ppl there. Or how if i run a business XYZ and my employees are stuck there.... and could be stuck indefinitely.

Anyway have a look at what's happening in China and their border closure with covid zero strategy

[animalpest]

FMD is endemic in 7 Asian countries. There is a risk for Australia from all of them.

[Fionn]

FMD is endemic in 7 Asian countries. There is a risk for Australia from all of them.

I agree.

While FMD is a existential threat, its not here currently in Australia. The big threat currently to farming in Australia that's here now is the varroa mite parasite.

[cz515]

The varroa mite is a huge problem. Hopefully they can contain it.

Exactly animalpest, its endemic in 77% of animals in African countries, Asian and some south American countries. Why is it that we (90% of the population) are hearing about it just now.

I am not saying we shouldn't do anything, sanitisation of shoes and soil is very important step and should be done already. But closing our borders to Indonesia is a useless knee jerk reaction.

[bladeracer]

The varroa mite is a huge problem. Hopefully they can contain it.

Exactly animalpest, its endemic in 77% of animals in African countries, Asian and some south American countries. Why is it that we (90% of the population) are hearing about it just now.

I am not saying we shouldn't do anything, sanitisation of shoes and soil is very important step and should be done already. But closing our borders to Indonesia is a useless knee jerk reaction.

I think it's one or the other, if they aren't going to do proper sanitisation of those coming in then keep them out.

[cz515]

The thing is i don't expect them to do anything competently.

Anyway here is a sad one. VFF are trying to pressure the vic government to suspend rules around anyone being allowed to camp around water ways... go farm biosecurity.

Yep if you have a waterway on your farm (river, steam etc) no biosecurity applies.

[deanp100]

We have had detector dogs in our entry points since about 1997. I was an animal quarantine inspector for 20 years. FMD is all over the world , every day. It is the main reason our quarantine system exists and it is basically built around defending against FMD. We’ve been doing it for a long time and it works or we would have it already. So we should settle down a bit and allow the systems in place to work. I will always support increases in the barrier but we don’t need stupid s**t. When the UK got it there was emergency money thrown at every state to pacify the public by saying “ we are on top of this.”. Brisbane bought coffee machines and new furniture for the offices. Doing anything else in response to an outbreak says we weren’t ready in the first place. Apart from the fact I’m not there anymore I’m not concerned. If we start importing live pigs from Bali I’ll get excited then.
It is a point to note that it is extremely difficult for a run of the mill tourist to bring it here. A long series of events have to fall into place perfectly for it to occur.

[cz515]

Well there you go. F&M found in Melbourne. In butchers in Melbourne CBD and a warehouse. So 100% people have eaten them.

This meat was imported from Indonesia.


The thing is why aren't they checking these before they leave the airport cargo depots

[Lazarus]

The thing is why aren't they checking these before they leave the airport cargo depots

The thing is why the actual feck we're importing meat products, at all, from anywhere.

[cz515]

Cuz we don't produce enough, or its cheaper overseas. Its economics. Consumers want to pay the least amount, companies want to maximise profit.

If you look in recent times with lettuce, milk and now potatoes, i can guarantee the supermarkets are making the same or more profit per item/kg of produce sold. You will never see the wholesaler or big retailer drop their margins. So when costs increase manufacturers will need to put the pressure on someone and the only one left holding the bucket is the farmer. Worse case the manufactures will import it from OS.

As far as pork is concerned 95-100% of all pork products not on bone are imported. Plenty actually comes from USA, and China.

Apparently the F&M stuff also included pork imported from China.

[deanp100]

There shouldn’t be any pork meat from China. Canada , USA and some Nordic countries should make up the majority.

[Lazarus]

It was a rhetorical question, more an expression of frustration.

I'm aware of the reciprocity of international trade agreements but the fact is we're a net exporter of meat and edible offal, 3rd biggest in the business so we don't need the products, just the reciprocity.

In circumstances like this with a live threat to our 3rd place on our doorstep, reciprocity be buggered I say.

[deanp100]

The product was pork floss which is only allowed in if it has been nuked. The virus they found was dead which is the whole idea. Like finding dead insects after fumigation. That’s what is supposed to happen.

[Lazarus]

That's true.

I'll admit, the biggest risk is humans trying to sneak their favourite whatever from the old country

[mickb]

Heres my guess, whatever happens, the measures we need to implement whatever they are are will facilitate a flow of resources from our bank account to someones elses. Andif it hits I have no doubt it will be the smaller guy with less capital getting bought out by globals. Edited to take the smilies out of my post. Sorry blade, your thread is not a laughing matter and I hope this works out.

[Bruiser64]

Foot and mouth disease has already had an impact on my shooting. I have been told by two of the farmers whose properties I shoot on, that for the time being they won’t allow me out there. The reason being they want to restrict movements onto their farms to reduce the risks of a foot and mouth disease (FMD) outbreak. Obviously I respect their decision. I thought it was very interesting that they are exercising this level of caution. However, when I looked at the Dept of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry website, it is clear these farmers are sensibly following the biosecurity advice from the Dept.

Something I hadn’t previously given any thought to was that FMD affects all cloven hoofed animals. This includes cattle, buffalo, sheep, pigs, deer, goats and camelids (camels, apacas, and llamas). So I would expect that any outbreaks would be difficult to control in areas with a lot of feral cloven hoofed animals. Hopefully the security measures will be robust. It could make for interesting times going forward for those of us who enjoy our hunting. It may mean I do a lot more fishing and a lot less shooting for a while.

[Die Judicii]

I had a chuckle to myself when reading Blades opening.
My eyes glanced ahead and spotted " FMD " and wrongly thought of it as F#ck Me Dead,,,, before the penny dropped.

But in context,,,,,,, both are correct and bloody frightening if it gets loose in Australia.
It'll spread like wildfire,,,,, and mainly by our ferals.

Even just the threat of it will bump up the cost of any safari type hunts,,, if it doesn't completely stop all of those businesses completely.

[Die Judicii]

Foot and mouth disease has already had an impact on my shooting. I have been told by two of the farmers whose properties I shoot on, that for the time being they won’t allow me out there. The reason being they want to restrict movements onto their farms to reduce the risks of a foot and mouth disease (FMD) outbreak. Obviously I respect their decision. I thought it was very interesting that they are exercising this level of caution. However, when I looked at the Dept of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry website, it is clear these farmers are sensibly following the biosecurity advice from the Dept.

Something I hadn’t previously given any thought to was that FMD affects all cloven hoofed animals. This includes cattle, buffalo, sheep, pigs, deer, goats and camelids (camels, apacas, and llamas). So I would expect that any outbreaks would be difficult to control in areas with a lot of feral cloven hoofed animals. Hopefully the security measures will be robust. It could make for interesting times going forward for those of us who enjoy our hunting. It may mean I do a lot more fishing and a lot less shooting for a while.

You missed Horses and Brumbies. (or maybe not,, because they are hooved not cloven ?)
What'll that do to our horse racing industry if they too are affected ?