Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / DITT Head of Biosecurity Luke Bowen says an emergency biosecurity exercise in the NT aims to put processes to the test for managing threats like Foot and Mouth Disease

Transcript

DITT Head of Biosecurity Luke Bowen says an emergency biosecurity exercise in the NT aims to put processes to the test for managing threats like Foot and Mouth Disease · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Biosecurity.
• 0:00
  Speaker 2: It has become a leading issue in the Northern Territory
• 0:03
  Speaker 2: or for the Northern Territory and indeed Australia as we
• 0:06
  Speaker 2: tackle multiple plant, pest and disease incursions. Now we're here
• 0:10
  Speaker 2: in the territory, are about to undertake the biggest emergency
• 0:14
  Speaker 2: biosecurity exercise that the government's ever held. The exercise will
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: be for three days. As I understand it, it's going
• 0:20
  Speaker 2: to see roads blocked. It's going to appear as though
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: there is an emergency situation.
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: Now joining me in the studio to tell us.
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  Speaker 2: More about this is Luke Bowen, who is the head
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: of Biosecurity in the Department of Industry, Tourism and Trade.
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  Speaker 2: Good morning to you, lukeing. Good to have you in
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  Speaker 2: the studio. Thanks so much for joining us. Now what's
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  Speaker 2: the aim of this exercise.
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  Speaker 3: Well, I think if we go back to some announcements
• 0:45
  Speaker 3: or some issues that arose last year where there's a
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  Speaker 3: lot of focus on some major diseases that had entered Indonesia,
• 0:52
  Speaker 3: and these are diseases that should we get them in Australia,
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  Speaker 3: they would shut down our export industry. So to give
• 0:59
  Speaker 3: an example, Australia exports about seventy percent of its agricultural commodities,
• 1:03
  Speaker 3: and in the case of livestock, the sheep and cattle
• 1:06
  Speaker 3: and all the rest of it. We're the second largest
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  Speaker 3: exporter of beef in the world after Brazil. We're also
• 1:13
  Speaker 3: a very large live exporter where big dairy exporter, sheep
• 1:17
  Speaker 3: meat export and that sort of thing. If we were
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  Speaker 3: to get foot and mouth disease in Australia, it would
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  Speaker 3: shut an entire trade immediately. We have to be free
• 1:24
  Speaker 3: of these diseases and or just be able to trade.
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  Speaker 3: So people were very focused last year on foot and
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  Speaker 3: mouth in Indonesia foot and mouth disease, there's other diseases
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  Speaker 3: as well, including a lumpy skin disease, which is a
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  Speaker 3: vector borne in other words, it's transferred by insects, and
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  Speaker 3: we're particularly concerned about that. So in that context we
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  Speaker 3: have to be able to respond very quickly. If we
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  Speaker 3: were to get an incursion in Australia, our ability to
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  Speaker 3: get back to trade and get back on our feet
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  Speaker 3: depends on how quickly we can get rid of that disease,
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  Speaker 3: get on top of it and prove freedom, in other words,
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  Speaker 3: prove that our country is free then to open our
• 1:57
  Speaker 3: export markets up again. So to do that means how
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  Speaker 3: quickly can we respond, how well prepared are we. So
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  Speaker 3: this training exercise or this exercise between the seventh and
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  Speaker 3: the ninth is to test our systems.
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  Speaker 1: And it's incredibly important.
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  Speaker 2: Like you've just pointed out, you know, the second largest
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  Speaker 2: exporter of beef in the world. But that's incredible that
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  Speaker 2: we are right here in the Northern Territory. But then
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  Speaker 2: when you think about that, and you think about some
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  Speaker 2: of those diseases that we're dealing with around the world
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  Speaker 2: and the threat to the Northern Territory, it sounds as
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  Speaker 2: though the exercise is an incredibly important thing for us
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  Speaker 2: to be able to do.
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  Speaker 3: It is, Katie. And the point is that this is
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  Speaker 3: not just government, for example, it's industry and government working together.
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  Speaker 3: So what we have to test is how all that
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  Speaker 3: works together. And so it's part of a series of
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  Speaker 3: things that are happening over the next couple of weeks.
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  Speaker 3: So we've got a webinar, it's called a Big Picture webinar.
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  Speaker 3: It's about Emergency Animal Disease Awareness, which is on the
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  Speaker 3: twenty fourth of February, which is the end of the week.
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  Speaker 3: So that's a thing to just raise awareness about how
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  Speaker 3: the national system works for tackling emergency animal diseases. So
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  Speaker 3: it's building awareness. And then we're moving into two actual
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  Speaker 3: training sessions on the twenty eighth and the second of March,
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  Speaker 3: which are actually going to be training for people who
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  Speaker 3: are going to be involved in emergency response. So it's
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  Speaker 3: training people to be liaison offices in industry, in the
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  Speaker 3: supply chain across government, and that will feed in then
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  Speaker 3: ultimately to the exercise between the seventh and ninth. It's
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  Speaker 3: important for us to get as many people as we
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  Speaker 3: can involve in these awareness and training exercise sessions then
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  Speaker 3: to build up to this major exercise, which will be
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  Speaker 3: industry government standing up the emergency Operations Center at Berrimott,
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  Speaker 3: Peter maccaulay Center and other emergency operations centers around the territory.
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  Speaker 3: And as you said, to open people probably see things happening,
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  Speaker 3: there might be roadblocks, there might be people walking around
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  Speaker 3: and has matt suits. Don't be alarmed because I need
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  Speaker 3: to make it very clear we do not have any
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  Speaker 3: of these diseases on the three free right now, so
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  Speaker 3: we need to be very clear about that, and we
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  Speaker 3: certainly don't want them. Yeah, but this is all about practicing,
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  Speaker 3: finding out where the weaknesses are, where we need to improve,
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  Speaker 3: and quite frankly, until you're throwing in amongst it, it's
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  Speaker 3: often you don't know where these problems.
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  Speaker 1: Well, that's exactly right.
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  Speaker 2: Training, look like, how important is it that we do
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  Speaker 2: like that we do well with this exercise as well,
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  Speaker 2: because I would imagine, you know, you speak to a
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  Speaker 2: lot of people in the industry, in the cattle industry,
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  Speaker 2: other export industry, who would be quite concerned about some
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  Speaker 2: of these threats. So how important is it that we
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  Speaker 2: get this right even throughout an exercise.
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  Speaker 3: Because even down to the point a good example, so
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  Speaker 3: part of the exercise will be people on stations, cattle
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  Speaker 3: stations and farms around the territory, so this scenario will evolve.
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  Speaker 3: So it'll be it'll be a scenario where a certain
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  Speaker 3: an animal might be identified somewhere with a disease and
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  Speaker 3: we go through the whole process of identifying what that
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  Speaker 3: is and then potentially shutting down under a seventy two
• 4:50
  Speaker 3: hour stock standstill. But anybody who may be impacted these
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  Speaker 3: animals have moved all around, may move on trucks and
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  Speaker 3: various other ways. Quite quickly, it evolve into a multiple
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  Speaker 3: outbreak sort of scenario. So for example, if I'm on
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  Speaker 3: a station out in the Victoria District and I could
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  Speaker 3: be potentially impact or there could be the thought that
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  Speaker 3: a threat could have entered my property, one of the
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  Speaker 3: things would be, Okay, you need to tell me how
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  Speaker 3: many people have been onto your property in the last
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  Speaker 3: thirty days. So it's going to test people's systems, and
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  Speaker 3: a lot of people go no. So we have to
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  Speaker 3: be able to trace not just animals and animal movements,
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  Speaker 3: but also people on equipment and whole range of things.
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  Speaker 3: So this is going to test the industry, it's going
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  Speaker 3: to test government. It's going to test not just the
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  Speaker 3: agricultural side of government, but our emergency response capability across
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  Speaker 3: the board. It's going to test how we respond to
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  Speaker 3: mental health issues. These an outbreak of the kind that
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  Speaker 3: we've had other parts of the world, such as England
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  Speaker 3: in two thousand, had an absolutely devastating effect on people,
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  Speaker 3: communities and also industries that sit around, such as tourism
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  Speaker 3: around in regional areas, and that something we do not
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  Speaker 3: want this to happen. It could be absolutely devastating. We
• 6:00
  Speaker 3: have to do everything we can to ensure that we
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  Speaker 3: stay practiced and aware and we're match fit.
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  Speaker 2: Well, it sounds as though it is a very very
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  Speaker 2: important thing for us to be doing here in the
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  Speaker 2: Northern Territory.
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  Speaker 1: Tell us so when exactly does it kick off? And
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  Speaker 1: what do you reckon people see?
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  Speaker 2: To those out there listening, you mentioned before, has matt
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  Speaker 2: suits what else could they see?
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  Speaker 3: Look, It really depends how the scenario develops. So we
• 6:22
  Speaker 3: haven't mapped out and so this is going to happen
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  Speaker 3: on day one and day two. This could evolve, so
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  Speaker 3: it'll be a random evolution of how the scenario could unfold.
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  Speaker 3: We'll have observers, national observers watching on. We need to
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  Speaker 3: work out where our systems need improvement, so it really
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  Speaker 3: could be quite random.
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  Speaker 2: Oh well, it'll be interesting why for everybody around the
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  Speaker 2: territory to sort of see what's unfolding, But be warned
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  Speaker 2: it is an exercise, so don't distruy sound.
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  Speaker 3: Absolutely, and that's how we want to keep it. And
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  Speaker 3: I think if people are wanting to register for one
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  Speaker 3: the awareness course on the twenty fourth or the training
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  Speaker 3: events on the twenty eighth and the second in Alice
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  Speaker 3: Springs and also in Darwin. You can go on to
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  Speaker 3: the Agriculture in t Facebook page and you'll see the
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  Speaker 3: links there in order to get to those registration forms.
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  Speaker 2: Now, Luke Bowen, a lot of people listening this morning
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  Speaker 2: will know you dyull have known you from various different
• 7:16
  Speaker 2: roles that you've had around the Northern Territory. But it's
• 7:18
  Speaker 2: safe to say that you are one of the Northern
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  Speaker 2: territories most respected public servants.
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  Speaker 1: And we have just learned this morning.
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  Speaker 2: That well, in exciting personal news, I think you'd have
• 7:28
  Speaker 2: to say for you, the Board of Directors of Cattle
• 7:31
  Speaker 2: Australia have announced your appointment as the inaugural Chief Executive Officer.
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  Speaker 2: So what this is going to mean is that, well,
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  Speaker 2: I believe you're going to be leaving your current job
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  Speaker 2: to head to Canberra to take on this role.
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  Speaker 3: I am yeah. Oh, look, it's an incredibly exciting opportunity
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  Speaker 3: I think for the national cattle industry. It's the largest
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  Speaker 3: agricultural sector in the country. It's thirty percent of Australia's
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  Speaker 3: agricultural production, is about almost fifty percent of the Australia's
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  Speaker 3: land mass. It's a wonderful sector and they have formed
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  Speaker 3: a new national body and I'm very, very fortunate and
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  Speaker 3: privileged to be asked to be the inaugural CEO. And
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  Speaker 3: it's a big job because we need to have one
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  Speaker 3: voice and we need to have the cattle industry represented
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  Speaker 3: well at the national and international level. So I'm really
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  Speaker 3: excited about getting in and I'll be very much involved
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  Speaker 3: in the cattle industry here in the Northern Territory and
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  Speaker 3: agriculture more generally and with people that I have worked
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  Speaker 3: with in the past. And it's also with mixed feelings
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  Speaker 3: because I have been incredibly honored to be able to
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  Speaker 3: privilege to be able to work with people in what
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  Speaker 3: is the Department of Industry but also agriculture, Fisheries and
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  Speaker 3: bisecurity is incredibly talented people. They're real quiet achievers, and
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  Speaker 3: agriculture doesn't have a very high profile to some extent.
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  Speaker 3: But I've just been amazed at the depth of capability
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  Speaker 3: that we have in these scientists and the researchers and
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  Speaker 3: the people that push the boundaries for industry development and
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  Speaker 3: fisheries and agriculture and livestock and by security and animal welfare.
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  Speaker 3: These are these are true, These are true Territorians who
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  Speaker 3: are recognized in the national stage and in some case
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  Speaker 3: in the international stage as best in their field. And
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  Speaker 3: it's been a real privilege to work for these people
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  Speaker 3: and are we still spending plenty of more time with
• 9:15
  Speaker 3: them over the coming years. But it's been a real
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  Speaker 3: honor and it's been a wonderful experience.
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  Speaker 2: And Mate, I know, I believe born and raised in
• 9:23
  Speaker 2: w A, you were. You spent the early part of
• 9:25
  Speaker 2: your career in South Australia, but you've been in the.
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  Speaker 1: Territory for a long time.
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  Speaker 2: You are certainly a Northern territory you know, a Northern
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  Speaker 2: territory fixture. Like, how long have you been here and
• 9:36
  Speaker 2: what's it going to be like for you sort of
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  Speaker 2: stepping away to some degree.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, Look, it's going to be tough. I mean, the
• 9:41
  Speaker 3: territory is in my blood, you know, And I think
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  Speaker 3: that's that's good because sometimes on these national roles, you know,
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  Speaker 3: the North isn't always very evident. So I'll be representing,
• 9:52
  Speaker 3: understanding and representing the people in the North because I've
• 9:55
  Speaker 3: come from here and Western Australia and other parts of
• 9:58
  Speaker 3: the country where I spend a lot of time. So
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  Speaker 3: I think think I can bring a bit of value
• 10:01
  Speaker 3: to it and a bit of context. But stepping away,
• 10:03
  Speaker 3: I won't be stepping away from the church. We still
• 10:05
  Speaker 3: have quite a strong base here in the territory and
• 10:08
  Speaker 3: so I'll be in and out of the tertiary a lot.
• 10:12
  Speaker 2: Well, big congratulations to you, very well deserved and as
• 10:16
  Speaker 2: I say, I know that you are incredibly well respected
• 10:18
  Speaker 2: within the public service and right around the Northern Territory
• 10:20
  Speaker 2: in Northern Australia. So congratulations to you on that appointment.
• 10:23
  Speaker 2: Thank you very much for coming in and telling us
• 10:25
  Speaker 2: a little bit more about the exercise that's taking place
• 10:28
  Speaker 2: as well. No doubt we'll probably get a few phone
• 10:30
  Speaker 2: calls over coming days, people.
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: Wondering what's going on, and we'll be able to let
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: them know.
• 10:35
  Speaker 3: Thank you.
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: Good on you, Luke. Thanks so much.
• 10:37
  Speaker 3: I appreciate