As I write this column the fight against horse flu is being fought on a number of fronts across NSW.

The Iemma Government, industry and individual horse owners are working tirelessly to stop the disease from spreading.

It has been a team approach from the outset of this campaign and I would like to take this opportunity to thank each and every person who has been part of it.

We are dealing with an exotic disease which has never before been on our shores.

In recent weeks we have seen just how contagious equine influenza really is.

The very nature of the disease is not making our job any easier.

Individual horse owners and the horse industry at large are doing their best to stop the disease spreading.

NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI), The Rural Lands Protection Board (RLPB) and staff from other State Government agencies are working hard to achieve eradication.

As part of the State Government’s Equine Influenza Protection Plan we have introduced a vaccine and implemented a strategic zoning system across NSW.

This protection plan has been agreed to nationally. Other States support our efforts here in NSW.

I want to make it absolutely clear that the plan is for all sectors of the horse industry, all the way through to owners of companion ponies.

The value of all these horses is equal in the eyes of their owners - the Government recognises that.

We are doing all we can to eradicate this problem and discover how it got into NSW in the first place. Questions are being asked about the Federal Government’s management of the Western Sydney quarantine station and what went wrong there. Horse owners deserve an honest answer on this.

For now, the challenge is to stop horse flu from expanding.

The standstill has been effective, stopping long distance spread of the virus.

Based on surveillance and tracing information, we now have a solid idea of where the disease is.

Vaccine, creation of buffer zones and zoning will now help us slow down local spread.

We need the support from the recent weeks to maintain momentum into this new phase of control.

On behalf of the NSW Government, I thank you for your support so far and look forward to it continuing into the future.