Equine influenza report reveals national biosecurity must be improved

The NSW Government said urgent action must be taken by AQIS and Biosecurity Australia to prevent further outbreaks of exotic diseases such as equine influenza, and better protect Australia’s livestock industries, Minister for Primary Industries Ian Macdonald said today.

Speaking in the wake of today’s release of the Callinan Inquiry report, Minister Macdonald said it was clear the blame for last year’s devastating horse flu outbreak lay squarely at the feet of the Howard Government’s inadequate biosecurity.

"Today’s report confirms what many of us suspected - that due to a massive failure of the Howard Liberal Government’s quarantine systems, appropriate protocols were not followed, which allowed this exotic disease to escape into NSW and Queensland," Mr Macdonald said.

"This should never be allowed to happen again.

"This was one of the largest exotic animal disease outbreaks ever to occur in the Australia, and the NSW Government successfully eradicated the disease in record time.

"At its peak in NSW, more than 47,000 horses and 5,800 properties were infected with EI.

"The NSW Department of Primary Industries made a submission to the Callinan Inquiry on behalf of the NSW Government which included a series of recommendations on ways biosecurity protocols could be improved.

"Following extensive consultation, industry have told me that they want assurances this won’t happen again."

In the wake of the EI crisis, bio-security was a major feature in this year’s State Budget.

"The Iemma Government is spending $43 million over the next five years to upgrade the State’s frontline laboratory facility, the Elizabeth Macarthur Agricultural Institute near Camden, to improve our capacity to respond to exotic diseases," Mr Macdonald said.

"The NSW Government will shortly be hosting a national summit on equine influenza to look at solutions going forward including the use of vaccines in the future."

Minister Macdonald welcomed the decision by the Federal Labor Government not to impose a levy on the horse industry to repay the costs of eradicating the equine influenza outbreak.

"Equine Influenza demonstrated to everyone just how important quarantine is to our economy and industries - outbreaks of exotic diseases have the potential to result in largescale disaster, for example foot and mouth disease or bird flu," he said.

"Our livestock trade requires the importation of animals from other countries, so it is essential that strict quarantine measures are in place to prevent the introduction of serious diseases that we don’t have here in Australia.

"The NSW Government looks forward to working with the Commonwealth Government and industry to ensure the protection of our valuable livestock industries."

As part of the EI eradication campaign the NSW Government:

  • Spent more than $50 million on its control and eradication campaign;
  • Vaccinated approximately 50,000 horses;
  • Provided vaccine for horse industry sectors to vaccinate more than 13,000 horses;
  • Established more than 20 control and vaccination centres across NSW;
  • Enlisted an additional workforce of about 2,000;
  • State Government laboratories worked seven days per week, testing more than 131,000 samples; and
  • Implemented a successful four colour zoning system across NSW to free-up movements, allow the breeding season to be undertaken and horse events to resume.

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