Rebekha Sharkie (Mayo, Centre Alliance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This past month I have received countless emails, calls and letters from primary producers in Mayo who are deeply concerned at the prospect of foot-and-mouth disease entering our community. We know there is a significant outbreak in Indonesia, including in Bali, and we must do all we can in this place to provide protection for our Australian livestock industry and assist our neighbours in Indonesia to get this outbreak under control.

Mayo is a food bowl of diverse agriculture, including dairy, beef cattle, sheep grazing, horticulture and food production. In South Australia, we are the closest rural electorate to the Adelaide Airport, and, as such, my community overwhelmingly supports a temporary halt to travel until this outbreak is under control. If the government will not do this, we call on the government to invest in 3D X-ray machines at our international airports in Australia as a matter of urgency, and to help Indonesia ensure that all travellers use disinfectant mats and that every traveller's luggage is checked. The government must implement a robust education program and ban the importation of all foodstuffs in travellers' luggage. Declaration cards and random checks are simply not enough. We must be vigilant, we must be thorough, and we must put our farmers first. This is an $80 billion industry that we can't risk.