Industry leaders and experts have rejected calls from across the Coalition to stop the risk of foot and mouth disease devastating Australia’s livestock industry by closing the border with Indonesia, arguing such a move wouldn’t remove risks but would damage the economy and foreign relations.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton and veteran’s affairs spokesman Barnaby Joyce demanded last week the federal government shut the border immediately, arguing the risk of severe economic damage, which the government says could top $80 billion, is too great to take any chances.

A farmer leads his cows to be given a vaccine against the highly infectious foot-and-mouth disease during a vaccination campaign in Bali.Credit:AP

Nationals senator Susan McDonald, MP Colin Boyce and former NSW agriculture minister Adam Marshall have also called for border closures. Nationals leader David Littleproud has not ruled out a border closure and called on the government to stipulate what circumstances would justify it being shut.

The calls are starting to resonate. Last week more than 100 people gathered in Colac, in South West Victoria, for the Rally for a Response event demanding the border be closed to tourists for 120 days. Farmers drove their tractors through town to attract attention to their cause.

“I believe we should shut the border,” Dutton told 2GB last week. “The prime minister needs to explain why that has not happened.”

Joyce said “if the risk is there, you must stop it”.

“You must close the borders. The alternative is that there is no alternative.”

Foot and mouth infects cloven-hoofed animals and can be carried on animal products including meat and leather and people can carry it on their shoes, clothes or in their noses, where it can survive for up to 24 hours. It does not affect the health of humans.

Federal Agriculture Minister Murray Watt said closing the border would likely harm trade with Indonesia, worth about $8 billion a year, without solving the problem.

“We have to make sure we don’t cut off our nose to spite our face,” Watt said. “That could potentially impact livestock, wheat and other farmers and hit producers’ incomes right across the country, even if foot and mouth disease never reaches our shores.

“In fact, the opposition’s desperation to score political points is already impacting our agricultural trade, with industry reporting concern from customers overseas.”

Australian Farm Institute managing director Richard Heath said with Australia’s Chief Veterinary Officer recommending the border remain open, a ban on travellers could do more harm than good.

“Unless you actually shut down trade as well as people, you’ve still got meat products, and you’ve got all sorts of other things moving around, that could still bring in foot and mouth disease,” Heath said. “So you’re putting a drastic solution which doesn’t guarantee that it won’t come in from Indonesia anyway.”

National Farmers Federation president Tony Mahar has also rejected a border closure. He said it would be hard to justify limiting it to tourism travel, given trade with Indonesia is worth about $8 billion and livestock and other vessels carry a similar or greater risk of bringing foot and mouth on Australia’s shores.

“You’ve got to understand the implications of decisions like that, and before any decision is made, the government should be absolutely clear on what the consequences and implications are,” Mahar said.

Australian Live Export Council chief executive Mark Harvey-Sutton, who represents a peak body for northern Australia’s cattle industry, said closing the border to tourism could lead to broader border bans that jeopardise trade relations and even potentially Indonesia’s food security.

“It’s an overly simplistic solution to what is a very complex issue,” he said.

“When we talk about agricultural trade with Indonesia, we’re actually talking about their food security.

“They rely on us for grain or wheat or flour, whatever to make, make a lot of their produce, and they do rely on Australia for in our sustainable, affordable source of protein.”

Dutton’s office was contacted for comment.

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