{"id":321322,"date":"2022-07-13T20:19:05","date_gmt":"2022-07-13T10:19:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=321322"},"modified":"2022-07-14T13:44:15","modified_gmt":"2022-07-14T03:44:15","slug":"council-urges-bali-travel-ban","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2022\/07\/13\/council-urges-bali-travel-ban\/","title":{"rendered":"Council Urges Bali Travel Ban"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Cr Scott Henschen<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

July 13, 2022<\/strong><\/p>\n

South Burnett Regional Council will write to the Federal Government to request it temporarily suspend all travel to and from countries affected by foot and mouth disease (FMD).<\/p>\n

The Council also voted to erect biosecurity warnings about FMD on all entry and exit roads in the region.<\/p>\n

The two decisions were made at Wednesday’s Liveability Standing Committee meeting.<\/p>\n

Cr Scott Henschen said the highly infectious disease was now in Bali, one of the most popular overseas tourist destinations for Australians.<\/strong><\/p>\n

There has been a push to install “foot dips” at airports for passengers returning from Bali to walk through to prevent the virus being carried into Australia on their shoes.<\/p>\n

But Cr Henschen said the FMD virus could also be carried by travellers on their clothes and other personal items.<\/p>\n

Australia is currently one of only a handful of countries free of the disease.<\/p>\n

Cr Henschen said FMD affected pigs as well as cattle, and warned that with agriculture making up about 71 per cent of the region’s economy, any outbreak could quickly bring the South Burnett to its knees.<\/strong><\/p>\n

He said FMD would not only be a disaster for the region’s livestock producers – who would be forced to cull their herds – but also consumers who would have to deal with a chronic shortage of beef and pork products that would affect supermarkets, cafes and restaurants.<\/p>\n

Cr Henchen said he understood Barcaldine and Western Downs Regional Councils had recently moved to ramp up awareness about the risk of FMD in their regions, and urged the South Burnett to do the same.<\/p>\n

Mayor Brett Otto suggested Council should also try to organise a meeting with representatives from the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries and the State and Federal Agriculture Ministers’ offices to discuss prevention strategies.<\/p>\n

He also suggested holding a meeting in conjunction with BIEDO for local livestock producers.<\/p>\n

Councillors accepted all proposals unanimously.<\/p>\n