The Liberal government must act decisively to reassure farmers that the government is doing everything possible to prevent a potential outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease in Tasmania.
Premier Jeremy Rockliff and Primary Industries Minister Jo Palmer’s actions to date have been weak and hesitant and have done little to alleviate concerns.
All they have done is put on an additional eight biosecurity staff at airports and re-announced already-budgeted support for the Tasmanian Farmers and Graziers’ biosecurity project.
Primary producers have expressed grave fears that the state is not prepared for an outbreak of the disease, which has the potential to decimate more than 200 years of livestock lineage and devastate farmers and their communities.
Our farmers deserve to have their concerns heard and their questions answered.
Does the Minister’s department have enough capacity to effectively secure infected properties and undertake the appropriate animal health and welfare checks?
With a large number of fallow deer in the state, which are carriers of FMD, how does the Minister plan to isolate and control this population so that a devastating spread does not occur?
I urge the government to do a test run of their response plan, if they have one, to test our systems’ capacity to deal with an incursion and confirm they are robust and sound.
This includes monitoring mail centres to ensure that illegally imported meat and other animal products do not enter the state.
With the Federal Government introducing sanitation mats at international borders, the State government must immediately roll out the same at all Tasmanian entry points, as well as demonstrating a commitment to the rapid implementation of the national initiative to electronically tag sheep and goats.
While he is distracted by his imploding government, the Premier is not getting the basics in place to reduce the risk of FMD. It is time to step up, show some leadership and give the industry some confidence in the future.
Janie Finlay MP
Shadow Minister for Primary Industries
