Garth Hamilton (Groom, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to support the motion. I do find it interesting that the member for Blair seems to think this is an issue that is over—that this is something that happened—and I think that probably explains a lot of what we're seeing, quite frankly. But, since we were last in this place, to be frank, the uproar around Australia's response to foot-and-mouth disease has died down. While it may no longer be dominating news headlines, the threat of this disease remains front of mind for regional communities like mine. Groom has a couple of hundred thousand head of cattle on feed sitting in it. This a concern that is not new to us. This is something that we've been watching for a long time. Although it hit the news headlines quite prominently, this is something that we have to plan for and to watch and prepare for.

We'll continue to watch intently the spread in Indonesia and the actions of our respective governments. We do this because the impact of foot-and-mouth disease simply cannot be understated. An $80 billion meat industry is on the line, along with every locally owned business that supplies the industry. In my electorate, that includes trucking companies, vets, lawyers, accountants, mechanics and so many more. Agriculture still underpins so much of Groom's local economy. I was lucky enough to open the sales at Dorroughby Speckle Park a couple of weeks ago, and it was fantastic. This is the second sale they've had of the Speckle Park breed—a relatively new breed. There's a build of enthusiasm among people coming into the sales. But, amongst all that optimism, there's a cloud on the horizon that everyone's aware of.

An outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease here would prevent trade for at least a few years in a best case scenario, according to department officials, and could require the mass slaughter of animals as we saw in the UK in 2001 when more than six million animals were lost at a cost of $13 billion to the economy. In addition to the animals' suffering, imagine the mental health impact of such an exercise here in Australia. Again, I reflect upon the millennium drought. I was working at the Northparkes mine at the time. I remember speaking with local farmers in the area about the very real prospect they faced of having to shoot their stock. This is something that takes a heavy toll on people. This isn't something that is thoughtless or mindless at all. I'm not saying this to cause alarm or panic but rather to keep the reality of the situation in mind as we decide our strategy going forward and as we work to keep the general public on side and compliant.

It's vital that the government does not let its guard down or take its foot off the pedal in this rollout of vaccinations and biosecurity measures. I do acknowledge the arrival in Indonesia last week of the first shipment of one million FMD doses, supplied by the Australian government. It's an important step and one that I'm very, very glad to see taken, but the reality is that the heightened threat on our doorstep could be with us for a very long time. There are countries where FMD has become endemic. Our assistance to Indonesia and our home-soil protocols must be maintained for as long as necessary, but there is still scope for our response to be improved.

I would call on the Labor government to continue to seek new solutions to this issue and to remain open to this conversation. For example, while the department of agriculture has rolled out awareness campaigns to Australia's livestock producers, agricultural industry, travellers and a range of other stakeholders, I would argue that greater education is still needed in metro areas before people even step foot on a plane. From the concerned letters, phone calls and visits that I've had, I'm quite sure the agricultural industry and regional residents are well aware of what's at stake here and why compliance with biosecurity measures is so vital. However, I'm not confident that those who don't interact with this sector regularly are so well versed, and this isn't a city versus country matter; it's essential that everyone is educated and can work together for the protection of our nation. From the comments I've seen, including from the WA state minister for agriculture, I'm concerned that the seriousness of the situation was not clear. It may be out of the press, but this is still very much in the minds of residents in my area. The message is simple—very simple: the price of food will skyrocket. People in the suburbs and the bush are already feeling intense cost-of-living pressures. I'm sure they'll understand the seriousness of prices pushing higher.

I think it's important to revisit the conversation around 3D X-ray screening of luggage entering Australia and the need to establish a program with Indonesia. We're doing this, and it's good, and we support the move to do this for mail from high-risk areas. It's a very simple question: why not do this with suitcases as well? Again, this is not the voice of panic. This is a sensible proposition, and we would ask the government to consider it. It is very important. We have gone 130 years in Australia without foot-and-mouth disease. That's not been an easy task. It's not going to be an easy task to keep us that way, but it's a task that we absolutely must stand up to.

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