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A senate inquiry report released on December 12 said in the event of an incursion of a disease, such as foot and mouth, DAFF — or its subsidiary Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service — did not have the means or database to communicate quickly with stakeholders.

The report was critical of the department because its only means of communication was ‘‘snail mail’’.

The interim report from the Senate Standing Committees on Rural Affairs and Transport’s inquiry into the adequacy of biosecurity and quarantine arrangements found:

‘‘DAFF’s current inability to quickly contact all members of a specific industry sector, brings into question DAFF’s ability to respond to a potential disease outbreak,’’ the report said.

‘‘The committee is seriously concerned that in the event of an emergency — such as an outbreak of foot and mouth disease — DAFF does not have the means to contact all stakeholders quickly and provide advice in a timely manner.’’

The committee recommended ‘‘that DAFF develop and maintain a comprehensive database (which includes current email addresses) and provides the means of contacting all relevant stakeholders’’.

Dr Stone was responding to a newspaper article from January 4 in which a DAFF spokesman defended the department, countering that when it came to national pest and disease response arrangements the Commonwealth and state governments and industry groups each had a role to play in disseminating information to affected groups.

The spokesman said the AQIS client data base wasn’t relevant to that role.

Dr Stone said she was shocked at the incompetency of DAFF.

‘‘In the event of a serious disease outbreak like fire blight, rabies or the foot and mouth disease, DAFF should be able to text or email stakeholders urgently. Apparently they have no capacity to do this,’’ Dr Stone said.

‘‘Depending on snail mail, some growers or farmers would not get notified for days, especially in areas where mail is only delivered three days a week.

‘‘With fire risk area population now able to be given instant text messaging, it should not be beyond DAFF to join the 21st Century.’’