Australian Prime Minister backs open border stance as foot-and-mouth disease spreads throughout Indonesia

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has defended the Federal Government’s position to keep the border with Indonesia open as foot-and-mouth disease continues to run rampant across the archipelago nation. Calls for a travel ban have been circulating since FMD was confirmed in Bali on July 5, sparking fears it could be brought back to Australia by travellers returning from the tourist hotspot. Among those calling for flights to be halted temporarily is Federal Opposition leader Peter Dutton, who last week told Sydney radio station 2GB Mr Albanese was “playing with a loaded gun”. But the Prime Minister said actions taken by his government to prevent the devastating livestock disease reaching Australia outweighed anything its predecessors had done. “These are the strongest ever measures introduced by an Australian government in terms of biosecurity when it comes to FMD,” Mr Albanese told Sky News on July 24. “No coalition government has implemented… measures (as strong as) we have announced and put in place during this current issue as it’s been rolled out.” Mr Albanese noted various industry bodies — including WAFarmers and the Pastoralists and Graziers Association of WA — had backed the ALP’s refusal to ban flights, a move he said would have a “severe” impact on the economy and trade. His comments came after Federal Agriculture Minister Murray Watt also doubled down on the Government’s stance. Speaking at a Meat and Livestock Australia FMD webinar on July 19, Senator Watt said a travel ban would be detrimental to Australia’s “important trading relationship” with Indonesia. “The advice that I’ve received is that that is not necessary at this point in time,” he said. “There’s been a lot of farm industry leaders who have said that would not be a good idea in terms of the relationship that we have with Indonesia. “I also make the point that Indonesia is not the first country that has seen a foot and mouth disease outbreak. “There are currently outbreaks, and have been for years, in places like Vietnam, China, Malaysia, South Africa, and we’ve never introduced travel bans for those countries.” FMD has been spreading throughout Indonesia since early May, with more than 330,000 cases reported.