A RALLY has been organised by Western District farmers to be held at 11.30am tomorrow at the Colac Memorial Square in protest to the inadequate response by both the Federal and State Government to the threat posed by the foot and mouth disease (FMD) outbreak in Indonesia.

The ‘Rally For A Response’ organiser and dairy farmer from Alvie, north west of Colac, Peter Delahunty, said the rally symbolises mounting regional anxiety of an FMD outbreak.

 “We are asking for some breathing space,” he said.

“What we are asking for is a 120-day reprieve and temporary suspension of non-essential travel to Indonesia.

“This is not political – we think everyone should work together on this.”

Mr Delahunty said the protest was essentially asking for three things from government.

He said the most important thing was to immediately get Australia’s biosecurity response up to standard, followed by doing more to help Indonesia combat the current outbreak.

“For an industry that is at risk of taking an $80 billion hit, the government’s response of only $14 million is nowhere near enough,” he said.

“We should be doing much more – at least $100 million to help them eradicate FMD together with in kind support.”

Mr Delahunty said that thirdly, Australia should have protocols already in place in the event there was an outbreak.

“At the moment, the governments’ responses have been reactionary,” he said.

“We are not asking for a permanent closure - just until Indonesia has it (FMD) under control.

“Wednesday’s rally is a siren to those in government that fear is palpable among farmers and they want leadership from the political master class.

“Farmers are feeling left-out and isolated in the silence emanating from Canberra and Spring St,” he said.

Western Victoria MP, Bev McArthur, and Polwarth MP, Richard Riordan, will attend tomorrow’s rally.

“Once it gets to Australia – it is too late,” Mrs McArthur said.

She said that an outbreak of FMD would result in herds of cows, sheep, pigs and goats being killed – and aligned industries and supply chains would be devastated – including abattoirs, transport, and farm stockfeed supplies – and decades of refinement in genetic breeding would also be wiped out.

She also said the price of meat would spike due to a lack of supply.

“This disease will also be spread by feral animals, such as pigs and deer, in our national and state parks,” Mrs McArthur said.

“Farmers know this reality – governments should know it too if they bothered to look outside the city smog.”

Michael Stewart, the managing director of Charles Stewart, a livestock and real estate company that operates throughout western Victoria, said Peter Delahunty was a highly respected local farmer and he supported Mr Delahunty’s call to rally over the Federal Government’s response to the threat of FMD.

“The government’s response so far had been underwhelming,” he said.

“They don’t understand the gravity of the situation.

“They’ve been spineless, incompetent, weak and lazy.

“The Federal Ag minister has no experience or expertise in the agricultural field and he is calling the shots, which is ridiculous.

“They haven’t even properly rolled out the sanitation mats yet and only one in seven people have been inspected.

“The border with Indonesia needs to be closed immediately – but only for a short period of time until the disease is under control.

“It’s not just farmers that would be impacted but all business associated with agriculture – farm machinery outlets, stock agents, fertiliser companies – it would impact all levels of the economy.

“Abattoirs would shut and thousands of workers with mortgages could lose their jobs.

“Discretionary spending would dry up overnight and devastate the entire community.

“Not to mention the impact on mental health – that is a big one.”

Mr Riordan believes Victoria’s new Agriculture minister, Gayle Tierney, needs to get up to speed with her portfolio.

“This region is an extraordinary contributor to the national economy – it is one of Australia’s greatest food bowls,” he said.

“Just down the road at Warrnambool is Midfield Meats – another giant of Victoria’s cattle and sheep processing capacity as well as the dairy industry. 

“Our western Victoria region’s dairy industry – generating 20 per cent of Australia’s milk production – is home to brands such as Western Star butter, and milk export companies like Fonterra. 

“Wool is part of this FMD dilemma too.”

VFF President, Emma Germano, said an outbreak of FMD would bring our industry to an absolute standstill.

“We should be throwing the kitchen sink at this right now,” she said.