Press conference at Sydney Airport, New South Wales

Prepared: Friday 15 July 2022
Title: Press conference with Minister Murray Watt.
Description: Press conference with Minister Murray Watt discussing foot-and-mouth disease, Indonesia and lumpy skin disease
Doorstop interview, Sydney International Airport
Date Broadcast: 15 July 2022

MURRAY WATT: Well thanks everyone for coming along today to Sydney International Airport. As you may be aware, I’ve just returned from a very productive visit to Indonesia, a very quick, but very productive visit to Indonesia over the last couple of days for some high-level talks with ministers in the Indonesian Government, particularly around how Australia can help Indonesia, our close neighbours and our close friends, with their foot and mouth disease outbreak and also discuss a number of matters affecting agricultural trade because Indonesia is our largest export market for live cattle and for wheat as well as being another important market for a range of other agricultural products. But I realise that most of the interest at the moment is around the foot and mouth disease outbreak, so that’s what I’ll contain my remarks towards.

So, as I say, I’ve just returned from Indonesia on a direct flight from Jakarta to Sydney, and I’ve personally just been through the biosecurity process that is in place now at Sydney International Airport as well as a number of other international airports that take flights inbound from Indonesia, and I have to tell you I was very impressed with the biosecurity process and the work that the biosecurity officers, and it gave me comfort that they are doing everything they possibly can to keep this disease out of our country. And it’s something that we need the travelling public to really take on board as well as, and I’ll say a little bit more about that.

Just to tell you my experience so that people have some idea of what we are now doing as a result of the outbreak, particularly getting to Bali last week. Pretty much as soon as the outbreak reached Bali we imposed a number of new measures at Australian airports to protect our country from this outbreak coming back in. And, as I say, I’ve experienced those measures this morning. So, when our flight landed, not only did we receive the usual biosecurity message that people receive on any inbound flight from overseas, but we were played a specific message about the risk of foot and mouth disease and what the travelling public can do to contain it. That message was only put in place at my request when the outbreak reached Bali last week. So, it was good to see that people were listening to that message and hearing what they needed to do, particularly around the treatment of footwear.

When we got out of the plane, I received the flyer that is being distributed to passengers, again reminding them of the risks and reminding them of what they can do as well as the signs that you can see behind me that are all through the entryways coming off planes through quarantine. And then when I went through the quarantine services, I was treated as a high risk passenger, which some people might think is an appropriate thing for a Minister in a government! But what that meant is that even though I hadn’t declared anything because I didn’t have anything to declare because my profile had been assessed as a risk, then I was asked a series of questions about where I’d been in Indonesia, whether I’d been on a farm, whether I’d had any contact with livestock and even though I said no, because I didn’t, my shoes were taken away and cleaned, my bag was examined, detector dogs came and sniffed me, my luggage all those kinds of things. And the point of that is not so much what happened to me what but to say this is what we’re now doing with any passenger who comes back in from Indonesia who is assessed as a risk of potentially having had contact with livestock or been on a farm and, therefore, at risk of foot and mouth disease.

So, altogether, we are now risk-profiling 100 per cent of passengers who come into Australia from Indonesia based on factors such as where they’ve travelled before, whether they’ve ever had any other biosecurity issues around them and a range of other factors. If any of those passengers match the risk profile, as I did in this mock trial, then those passengers are screened and go through what I went through, which is being questioned, having shoes cleaned, having luggage examined, having detector dogs. And, of course, if anyone does come back in the country and declare that they have had contact with a farm or livestock or have got grains or meat products or any of the usual things that you have to declare, then those passengers are screened as well. So, as I say, they are some of the measures that we already brought in last week as a result of the elevated risk that we saw from foot and mouth disease reaching Bali last week.

And in addition to that, we also put in place what we are calling 'targeted operations', which mean that we don’t just do the screening of the passengers who the risk profile assesses as needing screening. What we are doing is picking random flights coming back in from Indonesia in a range of different airports in Australia where every single passenger is screened in the way that happened to me this morning. So, every single passenger in those targeted operations is asked the questions, has the detector dogs, has their luggage examined, has their shoes cleaned, those sorts of measures, to make sure that we are really sending a strong message to people that we all need to take this seriously.

And I think it’s probably worth pointing out at this point that biosecurity is a shared responsibility. Clearly, there are Federal Government responsibilities and obligations, and we are stepping up with the range of measures that we have already put in place and a number of new measures that I’ll be announcing here today. But in addition to the Federal Government, that’s not enough. We need the State Governments and Territory Governments to play their role in making sure that they’re prepared if we do see an outbreak come to us, to Australia. And I’ve had a number of productive conversations with State and Territory Ministers about that. But, most importantly, we need the travelling public to take this seriously.

If foot and mouth disease gets into our country it will be a devastating blow for our agriculture industry, particularly our livestock industry. There have been estimates in the order of an $80 billion hit to the national economy if this disease gets in our country. So, we owe it to ourselves, we owe it to our farmers, and we owe it to all Australians to take this disease seriously. And if you are coming back from Indonesia or any other country that has foot and mouth disease in it at the moment, then we need you to declare if you’ve been on a farm, had contact with livestock. And we need you to clean your shoes and, if possible, leave them behind. They’re the kind of things that the travelling public can do to make a difference.

Now, as I say, the steps that we’ve already taken are part of a two pronged approach to dealing with this outbreak, and the two pronged approach is about taking measures at home and abroad. Now, obviously, the trip that I just undertook to Indonesia was to express our support and our assistance to the Indonesian Government to help in any way we possibly can to help them manage this outbreak and bring it under control, and I have to say I was really assured by the seriousness with which the Indonesian Government is taking this outbreak, and they themselves are bringing in a range of new measures to contain it as we speak. But we need to play a hand as well, because it’s in our national interest to help our friends in Indonesia bring that outbreak under control for the benefit of Indonesia, but also in order to keep it out of our country. Now, that’s why I’m very pleased to announce today a new $14 million funding package, not previously announced, as the next step in elevating our two pronged approach to combat foot and mouth disease. There are new measures that we’re announcing that apply both in Australia, increased resources in Australia, and also increased resources particularly in Indonesia.

Now, as you may be aware, while there is a lot of attention on foot and mouth disease at the moment we also face a risk from another disease that particularly affects cattle called lumpy skin disease which is in Indonesia, and we’re very concerned about the risk of that in Timor Leste and Papua New Guinea as well. So, the measures that I’ll announce in terms of overseas support apply to both foot and mouth disease and lumpy skin. So, of that $14 million package, we are dedicating $5 million in immediate support to Indonesia, Timor Leste and Papua New Guinea, and that will cover a range of things some of the some of which I announced while I was in Indonesia yesterday. That will provide support for foot and mouth disease and lumpy skin disease vaccine distribution, including personnel and cold chain logistics. It will provide technical support to support and strengthen laboratory capacity, diagnostic testing and a range of other things. It will provide technical assistance to support on ground control officers and efforts in Indonesia and it will provide epidemiological support to model the likely spread of the disease within Indonesia and the region.

Now, those announcements that we’re making that apply overseas come as a direct result of the engagement that I and our officers have had with the Indonesian Government, and I was very pleased to see that the Indonesian Government welcomed our support. Obviously, managing this outbreak in Indonesia and any other country is the responsibility of that country’s government, but it’s so important that we show that we are standing side by side with those countries in their battle to contain this virus. And that’s why we’re providing that support announced today.

In addition to that $5 million, I’m also really pleased to announce today an additional $9 million in Australian Government funding to ensure that Australia is adequately protected from and prepared for an outbreak of foot and mouth disease and lumpy skin disease. Now, that $9 million will provide 18 new additional biosecurity officers for Australian airports and mail centres, because while there is a lot of attention on the travelling public coming back from Indonesia, the advice that I’ve received is the highest risk way of foot and mouth disease coming back in our country is actually through animal products – meat products and dairy products, being brought in whether by postage or freight or any other means. So, it is important that we ramp up our staffing at mail centres as well as at airports. So, that’s why this funding will provide 18 new biosecurity staff members at airports and mail centres to increase our surveillance activities. It will also provide funding for the new detector dogs that I’ve previously announced that will go into Cairns and Darwin airports, and that will be happening very soon. It will also pay for the appointment of a Northern Australia coordinator to manage the urgent development and delivery of effective surveillance and preparedness strategies across North Queensland, the Northern Territory and Western Australia.

Now, the reason that matters is that particularly lumpy skin disease is a particular threat to the north of our country because, as I’ve been advised, the way that is most likely to get into our country is mosquitoes who are in any of Indonesia, Papua New Guinea or Timor Leste potentially being blown into Australia by wind, especially as we reach the disaster season in the cyclone season. So having that Northern Australia coordinator in place will play a particular role in making sure that we have effective measures on the ground in northern Australia which is particularly exposed to lumpy skin disease but of course also to foot and mouth disease.

That money that I’ve announced – the $9 million – will also support State and Territory Governments with their efforts to prepare for any possible outbreak and, finally, it will help pay for some of the targeted communication that I’ve already mentioned, and that you can see here behind me.

So, that is significant new funding that’s being allocated by our government – $14 million, split between $5 million overseas and $9 million in Australia, and that shows that we are prepared to continue ramping up our measures in response to the threat, and, importantly, in response to the biosecurity advice that we receive.

Now, I’m aware that both before I went away and while I’ve been away, there’s been a whole range of ideas put forward by a range of people about what the government should be doing. And I note that some of these ideas are being put forward by people who have been in government for the last nine years and didn’t see fit to introduce any of those measures at any time they were in government despite the fact that the foot and mouth disease outbreak began before we were elected and despite the fact that we have seen foot and mouth disease enter other countries in our region in recent years while these people were in government and didn’t introduce the very measures that they are now demanding that we introduce. But I am aware that there is significant concern out there, particularly in rural Australia, because this would be a devastating blow to our agriculture industry and we owe it to all of us, as Australians, to take the steps necessary to contain this outbreak and keep it out of our country. The Federal Government is doing our job and taking our share of the responsibility, and we will continue to take further steps as required, based on biosecurity advice. I’m not just going to take a stab in the dark and do things because they sound good to people. The way we have largely managed Covid as a country over the last couple of years is by listening to experts about these things and doing things that work, and that’s what I intend to do with this outbreak and any other biosecurity outbreak that we see threaten Australia. So, these announcements today, as I say, are the next step in our two pronged process, which we’ll continue to take from here on, taking strong measures at home, backed with real resources, backed by biosecurity advice and also working with our international partners to make sure that they have the assistance they need to contain this outbreak going forward.

The last thing I want to say, just to reinforce that point about shared responsibility, I met a really great example of someone who’d done the right thing here today. A farmer from Cowra called Fred – I won’t give his last name to protect his privacy. But Fred did the right thing when he came back in. I was having a chat to him because he’d been pulled aside for screening and questioning as well. That had happened because he had declared that he had been on a farm in the last 30 days and that meant that he was subjected to screening and questioning. Now, Fred hadn’t been on a farm while he’d been in Bali; Fred had been on his own farm in Cowra in the last 30 days. So even though it wasn’t something that happened when he was overseas, Fred did the right thing by declaring that he’d been on a farm in the last 30 days and, therefore, he had his shoes cleaned, he had his baggage examined, he had all the things that happen to people who declare their goods. It doesn’t take a long time. It’s not a massive inconvenience, but, jeez, it can make a real difference to helping our country stay safe. So, my message to all Australians is: be like Fred. Do the right thing. Take this seriously. Declare things if they might be a risk. Clean your shoes. If we all do those kind of things as well as see the Federal Government and the State Governments step up to the plate, then we can keep our country safe and we can keep our agriculture industry safe as well. I know that has been a lot but it’s an important issue and I wanted to cover the range of issues. But happy to take questions.

JOURNALIST: Could I just clarify: the $5 million that you announced today for Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Timor Leste for those two diseases, that’s on top of the 500 that you announced yesterday [indistinct]?

MURRAY WATT: Yes.

JOURNALIST: It’s new money completely?

MURRAY WATT: Well, so, to be clear, while I was in Indonesia, I made two announcements. One was that we have secured and will provide 1 million vaccines for foot and mouth disease and we’ll be providing them to Indonesia. We expect them to arrive in early August, so quite quickly, and that $1 million is contained within the $5 million that I’ve announced today. But in addition to that, while I was in Indonesia, I announced another $500,000 from the Australian Government to Meat & Livestock Australia which will assist them work with their Indonesian partners particularly in the feedlot industry. I met a number of feedlot operators while I was in Indonesia, very briefly, and if people haven’t been to feedlots before, basically that’s where live cattle from Australia and other destinations get imported into Indonesia, they get fed and fattened up prior to slaughter, and the risk there is that you, in many cases, have thousands of cattle within those feedlots. So, they are obviously a particular risk and that money that we provided to Meat & Livestock Australia will help them work with Indonesian feedlots to make sure they have the best possible biosecurity practices and maintain control of the outbreak there.

JOURNALIST: And those 18 biosecurity officers that you just announced, is that shared across all the international airports in Australia?

MURRAY WATT: Yeah, so the 18 new biosecurity – I might just wait for that. The 18 new biosecurity officers that we’re funding from today’s announcement will be spread across a range of different Australian international airports as well as mail centres, because, as I said, in fact, the highest risk of foot and mouth disease coming into the country is via mail, is via someone posting some sort of animal product or something like that, which then gets into the animal feeding cycle. For instance, you know, if someone were to bring in a piece of salami or some other processed meat that happened to have traces of foot and mouth disease in it, if someone had some of the salami and then chucked the rest in their food scraps for their animals, that potentially takes it into the animal feeding cycle and then it can be spread from there. So that’s a very high risk and that’s why we’re targeting mail centres as well.

JOURNALIST: And I know you clarified why you don’t want to – to see like calls for closures between Australia and Indonesia, but there are real concerns out there that maybe that is an avenue to pursue. What would you say to those people that think that is a good idea – farmers, even, are saying that that is a good idea?

MURRAY WATT: Yeah, well look there’s a couple – and I have seen those calls and, you know, I think there are some people who are trying to make political gain out of this, but I also think there are many farmers in Australia who are genuinely concerned about the risk, and they have every right to be concerned, and that’s why I want to assure them that we’re on this and we’re bringing in place measures that actually work. Now, the issue with border closures is that first of all, I haven’t had advice that this is necessary from a biosecurity perspective; second of all, I’ve even had farm leaders, some of the most senior farm leaders in the country contact me and say they do not support border closures to Indonesia because that would have a very damaging impact on our trade and other relationship to Indonesia. It would obviously have a big impact on our tourism industry as well and the Indonesian tourism industry. So, it would have those kinds of impacts.

But as I say, the other point here is that there are a number of other countries in South East Asia right now and in Africa right now that have foot and mouth disease and have for a long time. We didn’t close the borders to those countries. It wasn’t necessary for those countries, and the best advice I’ve received is that it’s not necessary here either as long as we do the kinds of things that we're announcing and as long as the travelling public take this seriously and do the right thing.

JOURNALIST: Minister, if shutting the borders isn't the answer when there’s a hundred and thirty flights to Bali at Sydney airport every week so maybe kind of cutting back flights for travellers?

MURRAY WATT: No, again, we don’t support border closures for the reasons that I’ve just given.

JOURNALIST: Yeah but not border closures, but maybe limiting –

MURRAY WATT: Or restrictions?

JOURNALIST: [Indistinct].

MURRAY WATT: Yeah, again, the advice that I’ve received is that it’s not necessary for us to either close or restrict our borders, and, as I say, it’s not just the Minister for Agriculture saying this, some of the most senior farm group leaders in the country are saying they do not support border closures or border restrictions because of the damaging impact that would have on our relationship with Indonesia and because we don’t do it with any other country that has foot and mouth disease.

All good? Thanks, everyone. Sorry that was a bit long. Thank you.