Coalition offers conflicting messages on if Indonesia border should be closed despite industry advice it would ‘do more harm than good’
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Littleproud said the opposition is not ignoring industry’s call to keep the border open, but was “asking for the science to demonstrate it, to remove the vacuum of information [the government] have left”. Last week, fragments of the virus were detected in an undeclared beef product at Adelaide airport. Watt said viral fragments had been detected on seven previous occasions over the past three years through routine surveillance operations.Patrick Hutchinson, the chief executive of the Australian Meat Industry Council, said Australia should “absolutely not shut the border” to Indonesia and that “cooler heads have to prevail”.
Dutton noted that despite the government ordering biosecurity response zones to be set up at airports for shoes to be checked and cleaned, there was “evidence that’s not happening”.
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