Letter to the Editor

Once again the poor afflicted people of the ‘unlucky country’ face another beat up, this time it isn’t the Covid scamdemic, but foot and mouth animal virus.

Australia could soon see UK signs like this with FMD potentially costing the livestock industry $50 billion over 10 years should it enter the country. What we have to be careful of, warns a reader is another Covid scam and further political party controls over liberties and freedom becoming the ‘new norm’.

Yes it is in Indonesia, but 800 miles of ocean separate us from it. Yes we should help them eradicate it. But no the only way we can get it is if it is deliberately introduced.

All political parties oppose restrictions on travel between here and there, but all are getting behind using this beat up to put more useless and expensive rules on cattle producers.

 Just like the socialist criminals forced the useless and expensive electronic NLIS tracking on a industry that 99% of cattle producers rejected. But such Bankster owned, Judas goat entities like the NFF supported it and are now making ludicrous suggestions that livestock trucks be washed down after each consignment.

A strange thing happened back then. We had a panic over chemical “contamination” of meat which was the stalking horse used to force this impost.

But as soon as it was done, magic, no more contamination. Sounds like gun “massacres” pre-Port Arthur.

The National Party is running about pumping up the FMD hysteria. Anything that they are involved in has a strong odour of fish. From the destruction of the dairy industry onwards it is obvious they serve corporate and Schwab’s neo-racist goals.

All that they have achieved so far is to collapse cattle prices by 50% in a month, which our mostly foreign owned meat processor’s are loving all the way to the bank.

Labour loves it too as it may give them slightly lower food prices, leaving farmers once again subsidising the city consumers.

We just had 2 years of a successful COVID scamdemic, and now they are doing it again with FMD. Don’t get sucked in again.

J. Koehler

Burnett

What is Indonesia doing to stem the spread of FMD?

While FMD sits squarely on the Papua New Guinea border with Indonesia, there are no reports of it entering the country yet. The Indonesian government launched a nationwide rollout of vaccinations in mid-June. It has also restricted the movement of livestock with the help of police and the army, launched a campaign to educate farmers on the risks of FMD, and a number of infected livestock have been slaughtered.

As of 26 July 663,919 livestock have been vaccinated, 6,275 animals have been slaughtered and 3,872 have died.

Last Tuesday, a spokesman for Indonesia’s FMD taskforce, Professor Wiku Adisasmito, told an online press conference that vaccination efforts were being hampered by a lack of supply and people to administer vaccines, as well as difficulties getting to farmers and keeping the vaccine at the correct temperature.

“In this case, the government will continue to evaluate, coordinate, and improve performance so that the vaccination coverage is higher,” he said.

According to the Red Cross, the government has stated 30 million vaccines are needed. But so far only 3m vaccines have been secured, with an additional 1m expected to arrive in Indonesia from Australia soon. The Indonesian government is planning to produce vaccines locally, with production expected to start by the end of August.

Rondong said controls restricting the movement of cattle between islands had been weak, with the spread likely exacerbated by Idul Adha, a major Islamic holiday on 10 July which involves the sacrifice of animals and sharing the meat with the poor.

What is Australia doing?

Enhanced biosecurity controls have been put in place at Indonesia’s borders with a particular focus on Bali, according to a spokesperson for Australia’s department of agriculture. The controls include disinfectant foot mats for departing passengers and awareness raising materials.

Both the Australian and New Zealand governments have ramped up biosecurity controls domestically, including strict screening of inbound mail and freight from Indonesia.

The Australian government has committed A$5m (US$3.46m) to support Indonesia’s response, as well as mitigation measures in Timor-Leste and Papua New Guinea where the disease has not yet been detected. The money will fund testing, personnel and logistics support for the distribution of vaccine.

Are farmers being compensated?

The government is preparing a compensation scheme for affected farmers, with Rp10,000,000 (about A$960) for each forced slaughter. But a spokesperson for the Red Cross said there were concerns this was not enough for farmers to recoup their loss, with cattle often as valuable as farmers’ houses.

Windsor said that unlike the FMD outbreak in the United Kingdom, where livestock were culled to get the disease under control, forced slaughter is difficult in south-east Asian countries given livestock are the “bank accounts for smallholder farmers”, and also a crucial source of nutrition for rural Indonesian children.

Two weeks ago, Windsor visited two farms in Indonesia where animals had been infected with FMD. In one farm of 18 cows, milk production had dropped from an average of 250 litres a day to 15 litres.

“It has a massive impact on productivity for the farms,” he said. “And they are very concerned for the animals suffering from the disease.” – The Guardian