The impending closure of the City of Greater Geelong’s truck wash facilities has caused alarm with Victoria’s largest state farmer organisation.
The Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF) has called on the state government to act after Geelong council announced the City’s truck wash facilities will close in September.
VFF Livestock president Scott Young said the closure of the Geelong facility would leave Victoria vulnerable to biosecurity incursions.
“Our biosecurity safety net is only as strong as its weakest point and with the closure of washes in Pakenham and now Geelong, we’re left vulnerable,” Mr Young said.
“Truck washes are a vital part of keeping our industry safe and detecting any potential threats. In the event of an emergency animal disease, the need for an efficient and effective truck wash network would be central to a statewide response.”
“We now have two massive holes within our truck wash network on the eastern and western side of Melbourne and increasing movement of livestock into Melbourne meat processors is going to see this only increase.”
Geelong council decided at its May meeting to close the facility, making way for the redevelopment of the former saleyards where the truck wash is located.
At that meeting, Councillor Andrew Katos said the truck wash had been running at a loss of nearly $230,000 each year.
“Every truck that’s washed there is subsidised to the tune of over $500 by the ratepayer,” he said.
Cr Anthony Aitken supported Cr Katos’ position, saying the truck wash location was “not suitable” and had led to reduced usage, but did note the potential for biosecurity problems.
“If we don’t have truck washes for our abattoirs and other animal facilities in Geelong it will cause a biosecurity issue if there is an outbreak of anthrax or other diseases,” Cr Aitken said.
Mr Young urged the government and industry to increase investment to keep “vital infrastructure like this operating”.
“This includes fast-tracking of new and planned truck washes to ensure our biosecurity preparedness remains high.”
“There’s an obvious need for the government to step in and overhaul the state’s failing truck wash network in the wake of these closures.”
“There’s arguably no bigger threat to Australian agriculture than a large-scale biosecurity outbreak. We see investing in this infrastructure as insurance to help protect our multi-billion dollar industry.”
In 2023 Agriculture Victoria engaged consultants to prepare a report on the adequacy of the network of livestock truck wash and effluent dump facilities in Victoria, with further assessments on the network set to begin shortly.
“We know how important these facilities are in our biosecurity system and will continue to work closely with industry to maintain an adequate network of livestock truck washes throughout the state,” a Victorian government spokesperson said.
