Portfolio — 15 June 2026

Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Julie Collins announced on 15 June that Australia will invest up to $1 million to support Indonesia's response to a lumpy skin disease outbreak affecting livestock in Bali [TA-260615-agricu-02d5fff06e01]. The package delivers additional vaccine doses and technical assistance, coordinated jointly by the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade — a cross-portfolio delivery arrangement that signals the response is framed as both a biosecurity and a foreign affairs matter.

The announcement extends a sustained bilateral engagement: since 2022, Australia has supplied over 1.4 million doses of lumpy skin disease vaccine to Indonesia and committed more than $4 million through the CSIRO Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness for laboratory strengthening, surveillance, and animal disease training across the region [TA-260615-agricu-02d5fff06e01].

Today's commitment sits two days after the Minister deferred the export cost-recovery transition on 13 June — a decision that attracted industry attention over its implications for Australia's $100 billion agriculture, fisheries and forestry export base. Taken together, the two moves present a consistent portfolio posture: managing near-term cost pressures on exporters while reinforcing regional disease-control partnerships that underpin market access.

Lumpy skin disease poses a direct biosecurity threat to Australia's cattle and buffalo industries; containment in nearby Indonesia reduces the risk of the virus reaching Australian shores. The CSIRO Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness is the key technical vehicle for that containment work, and the additional investment deepens its regional footprint.