Parcels being checked for foot-and-mouth disease but Australian government says border should not shut

Indonesia is battling an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease but Australian industry groups saying shutting the border would not remove the risk of FMD spread entirely. Photograph: Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images

The Albanese government has ordered that parcels from China and Indonesia be checked in mail centres as part of extraordinary biosecurity measures imposed to reduce the risks of any domestic outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease.

As the opposition issued conflicting messages on Monday about whether or not Australia should close the border with Indonesia, the agriculture minister, Murray Watt, warned any preemptory border closure could be “a massive own goal for Australia’s agricultural industry” because it could provoke trade reprisals from our near neighbour.