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“We left all our shoes there that were dirty,” Allen said.
A leaflet given to travelers on arrival in Australia urged them not to bring meat or dairy products into Australia and to clean shoes and clothing worn in rural areas. The leaflet warned of fines of $2664 for breaching biosecurity laws and the possibility of tourists being refused entry to Australia.
The detection of foot-and-mouth disease in Bali has sparked fears of a catastrophic local outbreak, with more than 120,000 people traveling to the island from Australia in June alone, according to local tourism authorities.
Watt told The Age on Saturday that disinfected mats had arrived at airports and were being “deployed as quickly as possible”.
He said as part of stepped-up customs measures, there would be a “100% risk assessment” of passengers returning from Indonesia.
“It’s great to see travelers following the advice and throwing away or thoroughly cleaning their shoes before returning to Australia,” he said.
Agriculture Minister Murray Watt at a press conference on Friday. Credit: Getty
“Albanian government is taking Indonesia [foot and mouth disease] outbreak in earnest, and those who decide to travel must do the same.”
Just one positive case of the disease, which causes injuries and lameness in cattle, on an Australian farm could shut down the $27 billion cattle export trade for months or even years. The federal government has estimated the total cost of a major outbreak at $80 billion.
At the airport on Saturday, Melbourne woman Julie Comopolous said she saw some customs officers at the Melbourne International Terminal wearing “the full outfit” of personal protective equipment.
Comopolous said he had been staying on top of the growing vigilance around foot-and-mouth disease at home, washing all his shoes before boarding the flight from Bali.
Julie and Tony Comopoulos at Melbourne Airport after returning from Bali on Saturday morning. Credit: Scott Barbour
“I think they [border security officers] they’re doing all the right things,” he said.
“We were asked on the plane to make sure we filled out the forms correctly. We just ticked all the boxes to make sure we were in the right place if they wanted to talk to us.”
Melbourne woman Bella Curtis, who returned home after 10 days in the Bali sun as part of a girls’ trip, said she was “surprised” by the low-key biosecurity response on arrival in Australia
He said they threw away a few pairs of shoes before returning.
Bella Curtis (left) and Charlotte Powell returned to Australia on Saturday from a girls’ trip to Bali. Credit: Scott Barbour
“It wasn’t crazy … there was just an ad and we filled out a form,” he said.
Innovation Minister Jaala Pulford said while in her previous role as Agriculture Minister there had been mandatory tagging of sheep and goats across the state which would make it easier to track livestock in the event of a bud
“People need to know and understand that this has the potential to be very serious, but we are very well prepared for it,” he said.
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“Our team at Agriculture Victoria is working with our farming communities and they know what to do. Animal biosecurity is their bread and butter.
“Victorian farmers know that in Victoria we are more prepared for serious livestock disease situations than the rest of the country.”
The Australian Border Force, which manages customs and biosecurity at Australian airports, declined to answer questions on Saturday about why biosecurity measures for foot-and-mouth disease were not yet in place.
Although unions warned on Friday that the new biosecurity requirements would put extra pressure on agricultural biosecurity officers and could prolong already long international customs delays, no travelers The Age spoke to reported waiting times excessive
With Ben Preiss
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