WA Ag Minister Jackie Jarvis reveals biosecurity worries keep her ‘awake at night’ in wake of lumpy skin scare

WA Agriculture Minister Jackie Jarvis has revealed biosecurity concerns are keeping her and senior State Government staff awake at night, just two weeks on from WA’s serious “lumpy skin scare”. The State’s northern pastoralists breathed a sigh of relief on September 8 when Indonesia — their biggest market — lifted a trade-halting ban after more than a month of trade suspensions. The Indonesian Government suspended exports in early August, claiming 13 cattle arrived with lumpy skin disease — something the nation’s pastoralists and agricultural industry more broadly vehemently denied. The detections were reportedly made in cattle from seven export yards in northern Australia, including Broome and Wyndham in WA. Speaking at the GrainGrowers dinner in Perth on September 20, Ms Jarvis said the importance of biosecurity had been hammered home during a week-long trade and investment mission to Indonesia and during the “lumpy skin scare” earlier this month. “Biosecurity is what keeps me and also Heather Brayford (DPIRD director general) up at night. . . it is make-or-break in lots of ways,” she said. “Our biosecurity status is incredibly important and we saw that with the lumpy skin scare. “The other thing I learned while I was there (in Indonesia) is we are part of a global commodity. “We met with live cattle buyers, and I said ‘are you concerned about no getting meat supply from Australia’ and they said ‘oh no, we can get buffalo from India’.” Indonesia is the biggest market for live Australian cattle, importing about 337,000 animals last year, which is worth $600 million. While the northern cattle industry has resumed trade with Indonesia, questions still remain about how Australia would handle an invasion of lumpy skin disease which would cost the nation’s economy an estimated $7.4 billion. The State Opposition lashed Federal Agriculture Minister Murray Watt when the trade ban was put in place, urging him to get on a plane and resolve the issue. But Ms Jarvis defended Mr Watt, telling crowds at the dinner the State and Federal Governments had engaged in “quiet diplomacy”. “We are part of a government talking to our closest neighbours,” she said. “When you are there (in international markets) you realise we are not the only player in town, it is really important we can maintain those excellent relationships. “We are so hyper focused on how good our product is but it is a global market and we need to keep those relationships going.” Australia presented a 50-page report to Indonesia and Malaysia earlier this month, stating LSD has never been detected in the country and it was free from the disease. Lumpy skin disease is a serious viral disease that causes the skin of infected cattle to blister. It is transmitted between animals via contaminated equipment or by insect bite. Tie disease was first detected in Indonesia in March last year and has since been confirmed in 14 provinces across many of the country’s major islands.