Cattle Australia (CA) has welcomed a pledge by the Coalition to enact in full its plans for smarter biosecurity system to protect Northern Australia and the industry across the country, and is calling on Labor to follow suit.
Shadow Agriculture Minister and Leader of the Nationals, David Littleproud, has promised to implement CA’s calls for a sustainable model for fully-funded national biosecurity system, including user-pays charges on importers, as well as $2 million for a pilot trial of real-time early-warning surveillance technology for lumpy skin disease (LSD).
The Coalition also promised to review Operation LUNAR, which is designed to intercept illegal boat arrivals on Australian shores and are a potential pathway for pests and diseases to take hold on remote grazing properties on our northern coastline.
CA Chief Executive, Dr Chris Parker, said the announcement was welcome news for Australia’s grass-fed beef industry, which could be decimated if diseases such as foot and mouth entered the country.
“Biosecurity is critically important to market access, animal health, productivity, and food safety,” Dr Parker said.
“Increased government investment in biosecurity, and implementing a sustainable funding model, is imperative to the protection of the red meat industry, which employs 452,000 people along the supply chain across Australia.
“We have been in discussions with the Labor Government regarding biosecurity policy for some time, including the need for Operation LUNAR to contribute to biosecurity risk monitoring.
“While improvements have been made, we encourage Labor to match the Coalition’s pledge and commit to increased biosecurity funding and enhanced biosecurity systems.”
Through CA’s involvement in the Red Meat Advisory Council, the beef industry used its 2025-26 Budget Submission to call on the Federal Government to fund early detection vector technologies.
“Early detection is the most cost-effective biosecurity investment you can make – prevention is far better than cure,” Dr Parker said.
“Through the application of vector technology to assess potentially disease-carrying insect populations at high-traffic entry points into Australia, we will be able to identify the presence of LSD well before it can be detected in the livestock herd.”
CA will work with industry and extension agencies to ensure the surveillance system is connected to a coordinated engagement program to educate cattle producers on biosecurity risks they should be aware of and how to effectively manage them on-farm.
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