Agriculture Minister Murray Watt said there was a 'well-established plan' to deal with an outbreak in Australia, but he was confident the disease could be kept out.
Senator Watt slammed the Coalition for "playing politics" with the industry, and said a border closure or banned flights were options the current opposition never implemented while in government."As soon as this outbreak got to Bali, I directed my department to start working urgently."
"Labor needs to be doing much more than it already is to prevent that disease coming into Australia," she told Sky News on Thursday. Senator Watt on Wednesday announced further biosecurity measures after viral fragments of foot and mouth disease and African swine fever were detected in pork products at a Melbourne retailer.
Further investigations about how the products entered Australia was being taken, and it was likely prosecutions would occur, Senator Watt said.Senator Watt is urging travellers to take responsibility, clean their shoes and declare all meat products when arriving in Australia.
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