MP finds foot-in-mouth problems contagious

By FRANCESCA MOLD political reporter

A National MP's attack on the Government for "lax" border controls has backfired after it was revealed that his source made a false quarantine declaration.

In Parliament on Wednesday, National's biosecurity spokesman, Eric Roy, trumpeted the story of Jenny Wood, who said her footwear was not checked at Auckland Airport, although she had lived in a rural part of England that could have been contaminated with foot-and-mouth disease.

But her claims have come back to haunt Mr Roy, after it was revealed that Mrs Wood may have accidentally made a false quarantine declaration and Ministry of Agriculture officials are considering prosecuting her.

Agriculture Minister Jim Sutton said Mrs Wood had ticked boxes on her declaration form saying she had not been on a farm and carried no equipment or clothing that could have been on a farm.

A false declaration carried fines of up to $100,000 or a five-year prison term, he said.

Mr Sutton took the opportunity to take the moral high ground and hit back at an embarrassed Mr Roy. "This sort of dishonesty is more than simply irresponsible. It is criminal when there is so much at stake.

"The livelihoods of all New Zealanders are dependent on a strong and healthy agricultural sector," he said.

Mrs Wood, who has moved back to New Zealand and is staying with family in Waipukurau, said that if she had filled out the form inaccurately, it demonstrated the questions were not clear enough.

She considered the question asking whether new arrivals had been on a farm in the past 30 days was inquiring if people had been working on a farm.

Mrs Wood and her family had lived in a farm cottage but the land was not being used for farming at the time.

Mrs Wood said if she had lied on the form, she would never have gone public with her security concerns.

Mr Roy accused Mr Sutton of conducting a witch-hunt against a woman who had made a mistake. "He is breaking a butterfly on a wheel. His ham-fisted threat to imprison a woman who made a simple mistake during a long-haul flight is the trademark of a bully and a coward."

Mr Roy said he had received several calls from people concerned about the need for a higher level of scrutiny at border controls. He questioned the effectiveness of a single question on a customs form as protection against foot-and-mouth.

MAF said its border security had faced an "unrelenting" threat of foot-and-mouth contamination for decades.

Feature: Foot-and-Mouth Disease epidemic