There’s an old saying in Government you can’t legislate against stupid.

You can bring in the toughest laws in the world to stop drink driving, or to prevent people using their phones in the car, but there’ll always be a few idiots who just don’t get the message.

And why is that?

Because some people are just plain dumb.

Which is exactly why Aussie farmers are packing their daks right now about foot and mouth disease.

Because stopping it getting into Australia will really depend on the behaviour of people coming back from Bali.

So straight away…. You’re talking about a cohort that probably aren’t rocket surgeons.

But an incident in Darwin last week has revealed the true extent of the problem.

How much coverage do you think foot and mouth has got in the media over the past few weeks?

A bloody lot, is the correct answer, and you’d think by now that the message to returning travellers is pretty clear.

If you’re arriving from Bali, you could be bringing in a disease that could destroy a multi-billion-dollar livestock industry.

It’s already destroyed the political career of Alannah MacTiernan, and she didn’t even go to Bali.

But despite all the rhetoric from the authorities - and the concern from farmers -and the warnings from Border Force, some numpty in Darwin arrived back from Bali and failed to declare… two sausage and egg mcmuffins and a ham croissant they had hidden away in their backpack.

And when I say fail to declare, this donkey allegedly provided a false and misleading customs document, and was only caught out by Darwin Airport’s new biosecurity sniffer dog.

Don’t get me wrong, I probably love a sausage and egg mcmuffin considerably more than the next person - it’s the breakfast of champions.

But now I know it’s also the breakfast of idiots.

And this particular idiot copped a fine of two thousand six hundred and sixty four dollars.

Now you might be thinking, that’s a pretty heft deterrent. But clearly it didn’t stop this person from breaking Australia’s biosecurity laws to sneak in a couple of mcmuffins.

That’s why I’m 100 percent confident that you could double that fine and still not stop morons from trying to bring food into the country.

Or stop them from hiding all the mud on their shoes by claiming they weren’t actually in Indonesians provinces, where foot and mouth is a problem.

No one wants to live in a nanny state, but when you can’t trust people to do the basics of being a good citizen, you can’t blame authorities for taking matters into their own hands.

There’s an old saying in Government you can’t legislate against stupid.
You can bring in the toughest laws in the world to stop drink driving, or to prevent people using their phones in the car, but there’ll always be a few idiots who just don’t get the message.
And why is that?
Because some people are just plain dumb.
Which is exactly why Aussie farmers are packing their daks right now about foot and mouth disease.
Because stopping it getting into Australia will really depend on the behaviour of people coming back from Bali.
So straight away…. You’re talking about a cohort that probably aren’t rocket surgeons.
But an incident in Darwin last week has revealed the true extent of the problem.
How much coverage do you think foot and mouth has got in the media over the past few weeks?
A bloody lot, is the correct answer, and you’d think by now that the message to returning travellers is pretty clear.
If you’re arriving from Bali, you could be bringing in a disease that could destroy a multi-billion-dollar livestock industry.
It’s already destroyed the political career of Alannah MacTiernan, and she didn’t even go to Bali.
But despite all the rhetoric from the authorities - and the concern from farmers -and the warnings from Border Force, some numpty in Darwin arrived back from Bali and failed to declare… two sausage and egg mcmuffins and a ham croissant they had hidden away in their backpack.
And when I say fail to declare, this donkey allegedly provided a false and misleading customs document, and was only caught out by Darwin Airport’s new biosecurity sniffer dog.
Don’t get me wrong, I probably love a sausage and egg mcmuffin considerably more than the next person - it’s the breakfast of champions.
But now I know it’s also the breakfast of idiots.
And this particular idiot copped a fine of two thousand six hundred and sixty four dollars.
Now you might be thinking, that’s a pretty heft deterrent. But clearly it didn’t stop this person from breaking Australia’s biosecurity laws to sneak in a couple of mcmuffins.
That’s why I’m 100 percent confident that you could double that fine and still not stop morons from trying to bring food into the country.
Or stop them from hiding all the mud on their shoes by claiming they weren’t actually in Indonesians provinces, where foot and mouth is a problem.
No one wants to live in a nanny state, but when you can’t trust people to do the basics of being a good citizen, you can’t blame authorities for taking matters into their own hands.

If you enjoyed listening to The West Live for your daily news fix, then come and join us over on The Nightly Five.  Host Ben O’Shea continues to deliver punchy news and analysis, in a new podcast to get you in front of tomorrow’s news today!  Subscribe on your favourite podcast player and visit the thenightly.com.au

If you enjoyed listening to The West Live for your daily news fix, then come and join us over on The Nightly Five.  Host Ben O’Shea continues to deliver punchy news and analysis, in a new podcast to get you in front of tomorrow’s news today!  Subscribe on your favourite podcast player and visit the <a href="https://thenightly.com.au">thenightly.com.au</a>

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